Keeping It Real

5th Annual Winter Beer Tasting Festival

2011-11-20T21:20:00.001-08:00

I'm about 10 months late with this post and I'm a bit surprised that I hadn't written about the 5th Annual Winter Beer Tasting Festival that took place at our house on January 1, 2011. 33 different beers showed up to participate in the 5th anniversary of our tasting party and we had a little smaller crowd show up. I think a lot of folks were recovering from the New Year's Eve festivities the night before. As always though, it was a great event and here are the top 5 best beers as selected by the distinguished guests:

1. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale: This is one of my favorites year after year but in 2010, they did an extra great job with the Celebration Ale and others agreed! Number one in 2011 for 5th Annual Beer Tasting Festival: Celebration Ale! (By the way- this goes GREAT with Turkey if you are looking for a good Thanksgiving beer).

2. Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) Abominable Ale: Brewed down the road in Portland this is another stand-by beer around here and it came in close to first place.

3. Deschutes Brewery The Abyss:  I've seen this in the store for quite awhile now and really wanted to try it. The problem was a) the price and b) it's only sold in big bottles. It's a limited deep, dark, imperial stout and has gotten rave reviews. It was delicious, worth the price and topped out at number 3!

4. Ninkasi Sleigh'r Dark Double Alt Ale:  A regular fav around here, not just because of the taste but the awesome name and label! Looks like they are brewing this one through December 1. Better get some on reserve in case its sold out by the time the 6th annual festival appears!

5. Boulevard Brewing Company 6th Glass Quadruple: a dark strong Belgian Ale. Boulevard makes a seasonal Nutcraker Ale. It'd be awesome if that made an appearance at the 6th annual festival!

Here's a run-down of previous year's winners:

Year 1:  Power Outage No voting on beers so no 1st place.
Year 2:  Smooth Sailing New Belgium Two Below took the prize!
Year 3:  Snow Storm Rogue Chocolate Stout beat them all.
Year 4: Event Moved to January: Powder Hound Winter Ale by Big Sky Brewing Company
Year 5: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale!

By the way- we don't define "winter beers" as only seasonal beers but instead as a beer you might enjoy in the winter. Given most of our friends are beer lovers, they would rarely pull out a summer wheat in the winter. Instead, they (like me) turn to what I call "comfort beers": the porters, some browns, some reds, stouts and of course, the seasonal winter beers. Each person who comes to the festival brings beer to contribute. We don't assign beer but Rich and I do a lot of shopping pre-party to stock up on beers. I would hate to end up with only a few different beers so we do our best to stock the fridge in case the contributions are all similar.

A few photos from the evening:

Heidi and Justin sporting the pretzel necklace fashion.

Alicia reminding folks to score the beers.

Disguised!

Where's Nathan?

Happy folks!

The final score card.

Beers unveiled.

"New" place in Oly

2011-11-19T17:49:00.001-08:00

Rich and I have been to Skep and Skein, a beer and mead bar, a few times and I have quickly become a big fan of the place. First, you can bring in your own food (chips and salsa tonight) and second, they frequently rotate the beers on tap meaning there is always something new to try. The pub is in a non- descript strip mall in Oly, is casual, easy going and the staff is awesome and beer-knowledgeable. The place is pretty simply decorated with your standard tables and chairs. When we can, we opt for a seat at the bar. We've had great conversations with other locals and th staff at the bar. Great place to grab a pint! (We are both drinking Port Townsend's Winter Ale)

Good Read

2011-11-11T12:55:00.001-08:00

Remember this post? Well, I made a decision and read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I just finished it (yup- I'm a slow reader!). This book is one of those rich, in-depth stories that make you reflect on what's important in life. The book took me to a place I know very little about, Ethiopia beginning in the 1950's. It is narrated by one of a set of twin boys who is born to a surgeon and a nun. The boys grow up on the grounds of a hospital and are raised surrounded by surgeons, patients, and the heart-break as well as miracles of being around sickness and healing. The author does a good job of detailing surgical details as well as the human anatomy and how it works. I do not have a good science-mind and was a bit worried I would get lost and frustrated and confused. Sure, there were some points when I didn't exactly know what was technically going on in a surgery or with a diagnosis but I always felt like I understood enough.

The author does a great job too of developing a variety of unique characters. You learn a lot about quite a few different characters and find yourself wanting to follow their story lines as much as the narrators. Luckily, you do get to travel through time with quite a few of the characters. I liked not wondering what happened to so-and-so.

But most of all, I liked how the author dealt with love, loss, family and childhood expectations of life that often change dramatically as we grow up. Great book!

Next on my list.... Mink River!

Reflections on October

2011-11-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

A LONG time ago, I posted this round-up of reasons why I love fall. Fall continues to be my favorite season. I love the colors of fall. I love fall fashion- you know, wearing layers, puffy jackets, hooded vests, boots with jeans, skirts with tights and scarves. I love flannel sheets on my bed and pulling out my down comforter from storage and wrapping it up in even more flannel! Fires in the fireplace, leaves in the yard, hot coco, pumpkin beer, stew, chili and most of all Cyclocross!

October was a pretty rocky month for me....

October meant a trip to New Jersey to attend my Uncle's memorial. Uncle George passed away in early September. We had a memorial service for him in Everett in September which was really hard for me and my family. Then, in late October my sister, Mom, Aunt and cousin made the trip to his home-town in New Jersey to say goodbye to him with his NJ family and friends. It's hard for me to write eloquently about my Uncle but he was amazing! Reflecting on his life with his NJ family and friends was an incredible experience. He was well-loved, respected and an important part of a community. He never married but he found the love of his life 10-years before he passed away. We met her and her entire family and learned that they loved Uncle George like he was family. Losing him and seeing all those who loved him mourn was (and is) very painful. I'm still reeling a bit from his loss but so grateful for his presence in my life. Obviously, this was a tough thing to deal with in October.

Uncle George Ormsby with me and Michelle's kids a few years ago

October meant weeks 3-6 of a group-training program I joined at the gym. 3 days a week + 5 other awesome women + structured trainer led work outs = a fitter, happier, lighter Debbie! That seemed like a no-fail proposal but the reality was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I was really loving the challenge of the work-outs, was feeling stronger and totally loved working out with my friends. But, at the first two weekly weigh-ins I realized I had gained weight. The scale totally burst my happy work-out bubble. I was totally upset and frustrated and not in a good mood after the weigh-in. I opted to stop the weigh-ins, focus on fitness and take the post-program fit test and body-fat measures. The strategy helped a bit but October was tough for me as I dealt with a lot of self-doubt.

Just say no to scales!

October meant going to Cyclocross races but not racing. At first I thought it would be no problem! I grabbed a cowbell, my camera and ran around the race courses supporting my teammates and friends. It was awesome and I took some great photos! Needless to say, after each race I started feeling a little bit sad. I missed the fun of racing and especially the shared experience of racing with my friends. My bike team and friends are like my family so it's like going to Thanksgiving dinner and sitting at a table by yourself watching everyone at the other table. In the scheme of things, it's not a horrible thing to deal with but I was already feeling bad about things (refer to the first two bullets).

A photo I took that I thought captured the challenge of Cyclocross barriers pretty well!

October meant the realization that we are going to have a special session beginning late Given regular session starts the second week of January, this means my usual pattern of using December to gear up for session is pretty much gone. It could mean I am unable to go anywhere during the weekends of December. It could mean a lot of late nights and a lot less holiday festivities. Bummer- but I'm grateful to have a job and grateful for a job that I truly love. Even more important, I work with people who are my friends, my support system and my Oly family. I know we'll help each other through the next few months of busy-work season. But, the news was another of October's bummers for me.

Of course some really great things happened in October but all in all, I'm kinda glad it's over and hope I can take the bitterness of some of the October things that happened and learn something positive. Oh, and I still love fall!

Murphy toasting with a glass of wine to Fall!

Michelle and I enjoying the Jersey Shore at one of Uncle George's favorite beaches - Spring Lake.

Mt. Ellinor: Someday I will Conquer You!

2011-10-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Rich, Murphy and I decided to head out for a hike on Sunday, October 16. The day was a beautiful fall day! The morning started with a layer of fog in Olympia that broke up as we drove out towards Hood Canal. Once near the water, there was just a layer of fog out over the Puget Sound but it looked to be pretty much burned off otherwise. Then we started heading up to the lower trailhead for Mt. Ellinor. We found ourselves re-entering the foggy areas, parked, geared up and started the 2.5 miles to the upper trail head intersection.

The first 2.5 miles of the hike was relatively easy for us. Although I'm not racing, I've been doing regular weight lifting and strength training at the gym. I've also been upping the weekly cardio efforts. So, the first part seemed to go by fast! Once we got to the point of the trail that says "Summer Trail" the trail steepened a lot. It was more like a big stair step machine at the gym but a relentless, slippery and rocky stair step machine. It was pretty tough but given we only had .6 miles to go to the Summit, we were excited to keep going!

The rocky, stair-step, challenging climbing ended at a huge amazing field. We looked up and saw the Summit and the meandering trail to the top. But, as soon as we entered that field and stopped for a minute, I immediately felt nauseous, sick and miserable. Given we had just gone from 4,500 feet to almost 5,900 feet, I'm guessing it was the altitude. (Note: we started at 2,600 feet). I had flashbacks to hiking and mountain biking in Colorado. I didn't ever adjust well to altitude and was often having to turn around due to changes in altitude. Rich and I looked at the path to the top, took in the amazing views, ate some dried mangoes and I had no choice but to turn around. I have no regrets b/c when you feel that sick, going to the top isn't really an option.

Given this was the 2nd attempt at getting to the top (the first was done in early summer and there was way too much snow for our comfort), I will someday conquer Mt. Ellinor! Sadly, we forgot the camera but here's a few shots taken with the Droid phone:

Choices!

2011-10-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

I love reading. I really love reading! I just finished In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. Not my favorite book by him (that kudos goes to his amazing Devil in the White City), yet still a very interesting book. It provides a tale of Nazi Germany from the perspective of the U.S. Ambassador and his family. Although I didn't fully connect with the characters I was intrigued by the time, place and environment they were living in. I love history and, as such, I enjoyed learning more about pre-World War II Germany.

Over the weekend I realized I was almost done with this book and I got a bit distracted by the "What should I read next?" question. I took a look at my book shelf and happily grabbed a bunch of books I've been collecting but haven't read yet. One thing Rich and I have in common is our love for books and by books I mean "hold-them-in-your-hands-prefarabbly- hard cover-books". We frequently visit used book stores and almost always support one another in purchasing a book at a good deal. Plus, we are often gifted books by family and friends and give each other books throughout the year. I consider myself a book-generalist which means I love all types of books- young adult fiction, literary fiction, non-fiction, historical reference, biographies, science-fiction, mysteries.....

So, I piled a portion of the books I haven't yet read and snapped a photo:

For my Facebook friends, you may have seen this photo on my wall. "So many books! What to read next?" was posted beneath the photo. A few folks voted for "Middlesex". I had a vote for "Truman" and one for the "Poisoners Handbook. A vote for "Outlander" and ones for "Naked"& "Snow Falling on Cedar". Still others suggested I read "Salt", "Madeleine Albright" and "Cutting for Stone". My question was answered with a wide-variety of opinions and suggestions which is fine by me! Now, after I type this post, I will sit in front of this monstrous pile and pick the next world to enter. I don't think I can go wrong!

Lil road trip

2011-09-13T22:19:00.001-07:00

Am on the road for a few days: Anacortes and San Juans for a quick ferry tour + Bellingham to visit a fantastic friend from high school + a trip to Everett for some time with my cousin. May be a bit behind on blogging but now you know why! For now, a photo of a very awesome 93 year old woman and those of us who love her!

Getting Rid of More Stuff

2011-09-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

Although it was a beautiful 80 degree day, I had to focus on a few projects that have been neglected.

1) plant some shrubs and plants in my yard. I'm trying to work on landscaping but with little to no $ and absolutely no experience or talent. Every year I buy about $20 worth of plants and carefully place them in the ground. Over time, the majority of them grow and mature resulting in parts of my yard becoming more beautiful. Given session went too long this year, I was unable to do spring planting so today was fall planting! We'll see how it all turns out.

I planted a baby version of this. Hope it grows!

2) take photos and sell some things on Craigslist. I'm thinking positive here: I will sell some things. I will sell some things! I have a few items I've been wanting to get rid of but would also like to recylce them to new homes and make a few extra dollars. The process was a bit tedious- find item, clean item, take item to place to get photo, take photo, upload to google+ (my phone automatically does this with a cool phone app), transfer to iphotos, write up description, upload photo, post craigslist ad. Repeat 5 times. Simplicity is in part about being able to live without a lot of stuff. Hoping this craigslist thing works for me.

Anyone want a convection oven?

3) clean out the 3 separate bins/containers/bags with camping stuff in them. I pulled out all 3 containers holding camping gear, emptied them, sorted through them, cleaned items and re-packed. Everything fit into 1 big bin except that I wanted to pull some things out for Fall adventures. Rich and I go to a lot of cold, wet cyclocross races and I packed one easy to carry bag with things we will likely want on hand at races. Jet Boil stove/fuel and pot, camping "silver ware", bowls (for chili) and beer coozies. I then washed out 3 coolers, let them dry and stored two for the winter. The third is set next to the cyclocross bag and will store race food, water and (surprise surprise) some beer!

I did accomplish some other things today (changed sheets on the bed, vacuumed, and will cook a yummy salmon burger dinner) but I feel pretty good about simply staying at home and tackling some of these things that have been nagging me. I find it's better to just do the darn thing that's nagging you instead of listening to the self-nagging day after day after day!

Oregon Brewer's Fest 2011 Beer Review

2011-09-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Once again, I headed to Portland for the annual Oregon Brewer's Fest. As in years past Amy and Rob went with me and, happily, Rich came too this year! I thought I had posted two separate years worth of beer reviews somewhere on my blog. I'll search for them and link the old reviews as soon as I find them. But, for now.... on to my review of the 2011 Oregon Brewer's Fest beers (or at least a few of them!).

The number 1 beer of the festival..... Beer Valley Brewing Jackalope Imperial Pumpkin Porter! Yes, even on a hot summer day, this porter blew me away! It was the first beer I tasted and nothing topped it. A few came close, but this made me crave fall and all the awesomeness fall brings! I can't wait to find this beer and buy it up! This beer inspires me to have a pumpkin carving party with all my beer-loving friends.

Other great beers I tasted:

Bison Brewing Co: Bison Honey Basil Ale: I saw this one and thought, "sounds a bit crazy. Not sure if I want basil in my beer." Rich opted to give it a try and when he said it was good, I knew I had to try it out. It is a pale, lighter beer that tasted great in the heat of July. The description noted it would probably be good with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. I'm thinking that or maybe some Thai or Asian food.
FiftyFifty Brewing Co: Donner Party Porter: Like Scotch Ales, Rich and I really enjoy Porters. They taste awesome and are often our go to beer during the long, rainy fall and winter here in the PNW. They use 11 different grains (including hand-toasted oats) and there's a slight hoppy flavor to it (but not too much). Hoping our local beer stores carry this one.
Blue Frog Grog & Grill: Ginger & Meyer Ann: My notes say "VERY Awesome, Four Stars and Rich and I loved it (like we love each other!)". I know, I know. So far there's a theme to my beers here beer + spices + vegetables. I really didn't expect to be drawn to so many of these types of beer. But, I was. The Ginger & Meyer Ann is a Belgian blonde style beer brewed with some Meyer lemon peel and dried ginger. They add fresh ginger to the fermenter. All this makes a very refreshing and delicious beverage.
Deschutes Brewery: Chainbreaker: This is a very light white IPA with a fairly low IBU content. I'm not into big hoppy beers but given the IBUs was so low, I thought I'd give it a try. I really liked it and wrote "kinda super awesome" and "surprisingly good". I can imagine drinking this on my deck on a hot summer day. Or, in my happy place, at a friends house lounging in a pool-side lounger on that same hot summer day.
Fearless Brewing Co: Fearless Scottish Ale: Rich and I both love us some Scottish Ale! This one was a bit lighter/not as strong as some Scottish Ales we had but that was just fine. There was no bitterness to the beer and it was slightly fruity. Yummy all around.
Gilgamesh Brewing: Mint Kolsh: Like the Ginger & Meyer Ann, this one surprised me. It was very refreshing and not too minty.
Kona Brewing Co: Lemongrass Luau: Once again, an odd beer that I found tasty, tasty, tasty!
Laughing Dog Brewing: Anubis Imperial Coffee Porter: Surprise! Rich and I both liked this porter! I thought it would be an awesome beer after a very cold cyclocross race (think Bend 2009 type cold). I also made a note that this would be a great "fireplace beer". I know that it's 80 degrees out and I don't want to hurry up fall, but I am excited about putting this beer to the fireplace test!
Ninkasi: Helles Belles: I was out at a local bar a couple nights ago and saw this on their beer list. I couldn't remember what I thought about the beer so I didn't order it. Now, looking at my notes, it sounds like I really liked this beer. It's a lager and had a really good flavor.

Well- that's a pretty good run down if you ask me. Although this post had nothing to do with my theme of simplicity and acceptance, beer is a pretty darn awesome simple pleasure!

Making a Difference

2011-09-08T21:35:00.001-07:00

I would love to make a difference in.this world a tenth, no a hundreth of what Oprah did. Watching her impact on Morehouse. Stunning!

Quinoa Salad A La Thursday Night

2011-09-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

After walking Murphy in the park, I decided I was hungry and didn't know what to do for dinner. Given I had to drive to the park, I knew I'd be passing restaurants and grocery stores on the way back home. I also knew that being hungry while grocery shopping results in me buying a lot of unnecessary food items. But, I was hungry. Stopping at one of my favorite restaurants, Lemon Grass, to order the yellow curry sounded awesome! Or, heading to the grocery store and buying the ingredients for homemade fish tacos sounded pretty darn good! Yet, I reminded myself that I was focusing on simplicity for a few months. What I decided was to swing by the store, buy an avocado, green onions and some yogurt (we eat yogurt like there's no tomorrow here). I knew I had pre-made some quinoa and had a few extra jalapeno chicken sausages as well as some fresh cilantro at home. I mixed all the ingredients (except the yogurt) and what do you know? A delicious, filling and nutritious meal was made mostly from things I had on hand!

I know I cannot be the only one out there who, instead of looking at what I have at home in the cupboards, picks a recipe and goes shopping on a whim to make exactly what I crave at that moment. When I do this, I end up wasting food. The left-over food I bought for some other recipe remains snuggled in their matching tupperware containers and pretty soon, it all goes bad. I'm tired of throwing away food! As part of my focus on simplicity, I'll be doing a bit more strategic food planning and creative cooking. Not that I won't pick yummy recipes and go shopping for them, but I really don't want to be wasting good food that is sitting in my fridge and cupboards.

Exploration

2011-09-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be exploring the themes of simplicity and acceptance for awhile. I realized that I may be the only one reading my blog (and given I'm also the author of it, that doesn't make for paprazzi-worthy popularity). Given this sobering, but not sad or disappointing fact, I thought "what are some things you (me/Debbie) have been thinking about lately? If you were actually using a pen and paper journal, what sorts of things would you be exploring? Are these things issues/thoughts that could be conveyed on your blog? Would that provide a sort of "self-education and growth" on these issues/thoughts?

The first things that came to my mind were simplicity and acceptance. I want to live a simple, comfortable, low-impact life and I want self-acceptance for my life-style, my personality, my fitness, my weight, my "whatever". Who doesn't? At the same time, I don't want to over-analyze things or spend too much time thinking about myself. There's so much to learn and do in the world! I thought I might as well try to explore these issues in my blog- so that's what I'm about to do. I have no idea where this will take me or what sorts of topics I'll be writing about, but for the next few months, I want to use some of my brain cells to better understand simplicity and acceptance and what those words mean to me.

Definitions

2011-09-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

adjective

easy to understand, deal with, use, etc.: a simple matter;simple tools.

not elaborate or artificial; plain: a simple style.

not ornate or luxurious; unadorned: a simple gown.

unaffected; unassuming; modest: a simple manner.

not complicated: a simple design.

noun

the act of taking or receiving something offered.

favorable reception; approval; favor.

the act of assenting or believing: acceptance of a theory.

the fact or state of being accepted or acceptable.

noun, plural -ties.

the state, quality, or an instance of being simple.

freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts:an organism of great simplicity.

absence of luxury, pretentiousness, ornament, etc.;plainness: a life of simplicity.

freedom from deceit or guile; sincerity; artlessness;naturalness: a simplicity of manner.

lack of mental acuteness or shrewdness: Politics is not afield for simplicity about human nature.

Book Time Continued

2011-08-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention another book I read this summer:

A Visit from the Goon Squad: This was not a happy story. It was a story about a variety of characters who are linked together through various life circumstances. Most of them don't end up being particularly happy but their lives are filled with adventures, risks and challenges. One of my favorite chapters was a chapter written from a young girls perspective. It was totally done in powerpoint slides. I found this style of telling a story very interesting and unique. We read this book for book club and some of the book club members thought it was depressing and annoying. It was a bit depressing but I still found it interesting and a worthwhile read. I wouldn't recommend this as highly as some of the other reads I featured on my "Book Time" post.

Book Time

2011-08-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Summer has meant a few things to me, one of which is reading books! I've been trying to soak up the sun that has finally decided to show itself, which means I'm outside a lot these days. Regardless I've been prioritizing reading this summer. Here's some of the books I've read and my thoughts on each.

The Help: Didn't realize this book was becoming a movie until after my Mom lent the book to me. She really loved it and when I heard others start talking about it, I decided to give it a whirl. I liked this book. I liked the various voices the author used and the layers of issues portrayed in the book. This was the type of book that made me realize how lucky I am to have the female friends that I have. They are smart, progressive, fun-loving and generous beyond belief! The characters in The Help that emit these qualities do so under very difficult circumstances and personal challenges. As I grow older, I hope I'm there for my friends and that they are there for me as we delve into lifes challenges and adventures. I also found myself reflecting a lot on race and race in America. The book takes place in the early 60's which wasn't really that long ago. I sure do hope things have changed throughout America because the prejudices and mis-understandings about humanity that were portrayed in the book are not a part of the America I love today. All in all, a good book that resulted in some deep thoughts from me.

The Book Thief: A young adult book set in World War 2 Germany and told by "Death" himself (or herself?) outlines the story of a young girl thrown into a foster family for reasons she doesn't understand. The author tells the terrible tale of the Hitler's rule and it's impact on one family in a small German town. How does the family deal with the fact that they do not agree with what is happening around them? How do the characters stand up for what they believe to be right in a world ruled by fear and intimidation? What would I do under the same circumstances? Despite the dark author and the dark time this book was set in, it is full of crystal clear and beautifully bright love. This is a haunting and important story and I highly recommend it!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Another young adult book but one enjoyed by countless adults! I promised myself that I wouldn't see Movies 7.1 and 7.2 until after I read the book. It wasn't like reading this book was torture for me. The book was exciting, scary, sad and closed up the series very well (IMHO). If you haven't read any Harry Potter books, you should! The imagination it took to write these books brings me right back to being a kid. Remember the days when you made up stories, played for hours with your friends making up roles and story lines? If I had a fraction of the imagination JK Rowling did I would join the young adult book band wagon!

The Hunger Games: Yet another young adult book, I picked this one up because I was totally curious as to why there was so much interest in a book that focused on kids killing kids. Although I'm still really perplexed and disturbed by the kids killing kid theme of this book, I couldn't put this book down. It's layered with layers of political themes: rulers controlling the ruled with fear and intimidation, young people rebelling by just being themselves, hunger and survival as well as love and recognizing who you are and what you stand for. A lot of the themes are left open ended but what did I expect? Apparently this is the first book in a trilogy. Guess I know what I'll be reserving at the library. I liked this book but am not sure others could stomach some of the brutality of, well, I've said it 2 times already: kids killing kids.

The Happiness Project: A non-fiction book most likely found in the "self-help" section, I had this on my list of books to read for awhile. I was interested in how the author defined happiness and how she worked to find it in everyday life. Although I didn't completely finish the book, it did get me to start thinking about identifying both the things that make me happy and the things that don't. I'm hoping to focus more on the things that make me happy and diminish the things that don't. Good book.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A book set in Seattle in World War 2 but not focused on the German side of the War. Instead, it features the implementation of the Japanese internment camps and the movement of Japanese Americans in the Seattle area to the camps. Although the book is fiction, there are quite a few true elements to the story. One element is the Panama Hotel and it's history. The book was well written, heart wrenching and sadly (once again) reflective of a time not so far past. Definitely worth reading.

I think that's about it (at least that I can remember). A couple of things have become very clear to me this summer: I love historical fiction and I am pretty open-minded when it comes to books. There are only a few that I don't like.

Making memories

2011-08-21T08:43:00.001-07:00

I am in Chelan with my Uncle Tom (83), my cousin Kathleen and her husband Robert and 9 year old Grace. My cousin Neil and his wife Pam are here and so are my sister Michelle and 2 of her kids, Maya and Macey (12 and 9). I am really hoping this week is filled with laughter, joy and happiness. It is so rare for this combo of family to spend time together and everyone is happy to be here. That plus sun, lake, mini golf, bike riding (for me), movies and games should add up to some good memories.

Best friends

2011-08-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

I think my blog is becoming a just for me thing. I have considered quiting it but think I would miss having a place to track things and go back and look at things and stories from my life. Lord knows no one else will be writing about me! Loved this photo taken after an evening walk with Murph!

A Big Task

2011-08-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

Rich and I have been married 10 years and lived in our house for almost 6 years. I am not good at home decor and I'm a bit of a cheap skate. What this means is that we have had little to know change in our home since we moved in and we never really planned the spaces in our house. I'm comfortable in my home, there's nothing bad here but there is so much room for improvement. One room that has not had any attention is our bedroom. We have two old dressers (purchased at yard sales), two "night stands" which are actually parts of a cupboard thingy from Target, a bed and one bedside lamp. I put together two pretty cool photo frames and have those hanging up above my dresser. Other than that, 3 big, bare walls and no head board or decor make for a pretty lame bedroom. I see so many photos of bedrooms that are designed to be relaxing, safe, calming, etc. I really want a retreat type bedroom but have no clue how to do it on the cheap.

While looking for art work, I stumbled upon this piece. It's about $80 at Overstock.com and I really, really like it! Problem is I'm not sure what to do with it. Hang it and then find other art with black or dark frames? Have it in the middle of the wall, the side, where? If I bought this would I end up adding it to a pretty big pile of yard sale and thrift store art work that I've been collecting? Thing is, I really, really like it! I think I could build some sort of comfy, relaxing bedroom around it. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

My Day....

2011-08-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

Woke up a bit later than I wanted... ugh!
Healthy, yummy breakfast.... yeah!
Time to make a healthy, yummy lunch before going to my all day meeting... super!
All day meeting that ended early.... nice!
Accomplished a couple things on my work "to-do" list.... yippee!
Signed up for a personal training session with Amy and Rob.... ugh, yeah, super and yippee!
Met my friend Stefanie's awesome dog Gracie.... woof!
Met up with Stefanie, Andy and Brandee for a 13.5 mile mountain bike ride in the evening... fun!
Took many breaks on the ride and ate wild blackberries and told funny stories.... uber fun!
Made a grilled cheese sandwich for a late dinner... yummy!
Updated blog for first time in a few weeks... finally!
Accomplished day 4 of tracking my food and work-outs formally online... smart!
Tired but afraid I won't be able to fall asleep given the neighbors are having ANOTHER party outside on their patio... ugh!

Between the "ugh"s is a pretty cool and amazing day!

Muddy

2011-07-19T19:48:00.001-07:00

Mountain bike ride
Capital Forest
July 19, 2011
Bet ya wouldn't guess the date looking at my muddy bike!

Rainy Days and Sundays

2011-07-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

It will not stop raining here in Olympia. It's July 17 and I've been inside for the better part of the last two days. Sure there's been breaks now and again but no long term sun breaks. I think I'll put on my flannel pj's, make some hot coco and grab a good book. This after having corn bread and homemade mac and cheese for dinner. This is a post I should be typing up in the winter. Not on July 17.

Fighting for Equality: Hermione Granger Style

2011-07-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

What happens when you don't like paying top dollar for movies, don't like to wait in line for hours for a movie and don't really like big crowds? You don't see the latest Harry Potter movie during it's first weekend release. But, instead, what does happen is you read a lot of reviews and articles about the movie. My friend Rachel posted this article from Ms. Magazine which I thought was a great article. The author points out many of the reasons why Hermione Granger is a fantastic character and a great role model for girls (and for boys too). Her interest in social justice (think House Elfs), her ability to stand-up in times when she was not welcome in the wizarding world (think mudblood) and her good sense in picking friends and love interests all point to a strong female character. Just another reason to be a bit melancholy that her story ended with HP72.

Which makes me think about the instances of strong female characters in movies and t.v. I would define a "strong female character" as a character who is independent yet values the relationships in her life, is willing to go above and beyond for those she cares about but expects the same in return, is smart and therefore not easily taken advantage of and has both inner and outer strength that she taps into to stand up for what she believes in (despite the odds). There are some characters like this, but, in my opinion not enough. I personally would not include Bella from Twilight in any such list but would include Buffy Summers, Willow, and (gasp) even Cordelia in her Angel days. And of course, we'd have to include Lisa Simpson on any such list! The main detective female in Law and Order SVU (Olivia) would be on my list as would Jennifer Garner's character in Alias. It's not all crime-solving, vampire hunting and saving Springfield from the next environmental disaster that make for strong female characters. I'd also include the mom on Gilmore Girls, Ma on Little House on the Praire and Scully from X-Files. Of course, there is likely great debate on what a female role-model looks and acts like but for me, this is a pretty good, impromptu list.

Boom

2011-07-06T21:24:00.001-07:00

Riding my bike home from work today someone threw some sort of firecracker or popper thing at me. Didn't see it coming. Felt a slight nick on my arm and heard/felt the loud boom. Almost turned around to confront the thrower but thought better not. Some people are so lame.

Clearing Clutter

2011-07-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am on a clearing clutter kick. It started with my kitchen where I got rid of about 2 big boxes filled with stuff I didn't like, didn't use or didn't know what to do with. I then moved to my closet, the library room closet and will next move to the closet under the stairs, every the living room, the guest room and then the garage. I've given myself until December to be done with it all and I think I'll need that much time. The clearing clutter project includes a "getting organized" theme too. Getting organized is not just about putting the bills in a folder or the keys in the same place every day. It's about getting financially organized, getting my files organized, getting my computer photos and itunes organized (and clearing the CD clutter that is in the library), etc. The project list is growing. One of the most annoying projects is the big box of electronic stuff and appliances. Broken VCR's, broken coffee maker, old cell phones w/o the chargers, old broken digital cameras, cords and plugs designed to power some mystery items. You know. You probably have the same box. What do I do with all that stuff?

If anyone is out there reading this and has a good organizing tip or clutter clearing story, let me know. I'm all ears. For example, why didn't anyone tell me about the coolness of a portable teeny tiny step stool that you can fold up and store in your closet? Being short I'm constantly throwing stuff (mostly sweaters and sweatshirts) up on the top shelf of the closet. Things fall, look disheveled and I can't find things I thought were up there. This nifty little step stool has become my best friend.

Pictures Do Not Do This Place Justice

2011-07-02T23:02:00.000-07:00

I recently visited my Dad and Stepmom in Moab, Utah. They were camp hosts at the Devils Garden Campground at Arches National Park which is just outside of Moab. For those of you who don't know, Moab is known for it's mountain biking. It's a bit of a destination for mountain bikers. But, given my hip issue, I was unable to partake in the mountain biking fun. At first I thought it would be really tough for me to not want to just go rent a bike and hit the trails. Once I got there and started the 18 mile drive from the entrance of Arches to the campground, I realized I wouldn't be disappointed in my time at Arches.

Arches is unlike anything I've seen before. I've been to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and to a lot of other places in Southern Utah and I guess I expected Arches to be something similar. It was totally unique.

My first full day started cloudy and cool. Dad and Jackie took me to Sand Flats Road where some of the popular bike trails begin. We ended up driving the road up into the hills and looped back to Moab. After a quick lunch and a walk around town, we headed back to the campground. That's when the rain started. It rained and rained and rained. The reward was a double rainbow. Kinda made the rain worthwhile. We stayed indoors that afternoon/evening.

My second day started with a hike to Landscape Arch and Double O Arch with a couple side trips to see a couple other arches. Dad had always wanted to see the back of Landscape Arch and we ended up scrambling up some rock and, what do you know? We stumbled upon the back of Landscape Arch!

Landscape Arch from the front

After the Landscape Arch viewpoint, you have to start scrambling up rocks. A lot of people turn around here.

Dad in a tree that caught my eye.

Dad viewing the back of Landscape Arch

Dad and Jackie!

At the end of the day, Dad and I climbed up more rocks to this viewpoint.

Me on top of the rock.

The next day we woke up early to watch the sunrise at Windows. That day ended with a tour of the Fiery Furnace with a friend of Dad and Jackie's. Their blog has some great photos of the Fiery Furnace trip. Check it out here.

Dad on one side getting ready to walk through the rock. Jackie on the other side after walking through the rock!

The last day was a bit bittersweet for me. Sweet because Dad took us to a bridge that is rarely seen. That and a trip to a couple more arches closed out my hiking times at Arches (which is the bitter part). Saying goodbye on my last day wasn't so bad given Dad and Jackie are now on their way home to WA! Thanks for a great time you two!

The bridge!

We wanted to see the bridge from below and had to scramble down and back up the rocks.

Dad and Jackie all dressed up in their National Park Volunteer gear.

More Potter

2011-06-26T11:04:00.001-07:00

I recently finished reading the Harry Porter series and felt a bit sad when I had to say good bye to the characters. I just learned of Pottermore. The site will sell ebooks and will also have some new material from J.K. Rowling. Site isn't up until Fall. If you are a Porter fan, you may want to check it out

1970's Stereo Goodness

2011-06-25T15:30:00.001-07:00

My friend Rob loves music and loves listening to music on quality speakers. Many of our mutual friends have benefited from Rob's passion for quality sounding music. He shops Goodwill and Craigslist for old stereos and speakers. He knows a good deal on a good system and has outfitted his home with some impressive stereo systems.

I too love music. I remember when the ipod came out. I was so happy to be reconnected with all my cd's that had long been piled in dusty corners of my bookshelves. I asked Rob to help me find a good old fashioned stereo system for our living/dining room. Within a week he found a system, came over, set the system up and now, I have a much higher quality of music to enjoy! I think he said the stereo is from 1976 or 77. The speakers are huge but look awesome in the dining room. There's even a record player! (I have one record and you can see it in the photo.) I am sitting here listening to jazz, writing this post and feeling gratitude for a friend who recognized some good stuff from the 70's.

Test post

2011-06-25T15:19:00.001-07:00

Our computer died. Sad sad day! While we wait for delivery of a new computer, I decided to try to use the app blogger thingy. Apparently I can upload from my phone. Coolness.

I just got back from a darn incredible trip to Arches National Park. I will wait to blog all about it but for now, I leave you with a couple photos.

A New Book

2011-05-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things is a brand new book. I love browsing book stores and libraries. I love browsing on-line book stores. I love reading book reviews and book lists. Books have been a love of mine since I can remember. I must have read the Little House on the Praire series at least three times growing up. My favorite job was working at Wilson Library while attending WWU. I had to sort books, shelve books and, when things were slow, I had to check the stacks. Checking the stacks meant picking a part of the library, going up to the stacks and starting with the first stack, I had to make sure all the books were in order. I admit that there were a couple of times something would catch my eye and instead of skimming over the Dewey Decimal System number, I'd pull the book off the stacks and make the terrible mistake of opening the book. I was like a kid in a candy store! I had so much reading that I HAD to do given I was in college and the Professors did assign reading lists. But here I was, at work, being taunted and teased by all these books that just wanted someone to pick them up and read them. In moments of weakness, while "checking the Children's books stacks" I started to re-read A Wrinkle in Time. Another time, while checking the Psychology stacks, Sybil jumped out at me (picture the Monster books of Harry Potter) and demanded I read it.

Flash forward to 2011 and the growing popularity of e-readers (Kindle, Nook, Kobo) and I find myself in a cassette-tape type dilemma. As someone who seems to always be reading at least 2 books, the e-readers make it possible to have both books with you at all times. E-readers are light weight, feature wi-fi, make it easy to access magazines, books, newspapers and anything else that a reader would love. Yet, they don't smell like new books and an e-reader removes the act of actually turning the page to keep the story moving. Nevertheless, I'm slowly becoming a fan of e-readers. I don't have one but have seen them and have tried out my co-workers Kindle. There's something to say for conveince and ease and hundreds of books all in one place.

For now though, unless someone gifts me with an e-reader, I'm sticking with old fashioned books!

Hip Hip Hooray!

2011-05-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

Rich 60-mile Mtn Bike Race

Session ended last night! I have no idea how I would have gotten through this session without my friends, Rich and my families understanding of my disappearance. A few updates on what's gone on since my last post and since Session started in early January:

Rich entered, rode and finished a 60-mile mountain bike race. Amazing! Luckily, I got the day off so I got to go cheer for him.
Got to spend Mother's day with my Mom and Rich's Gram. My Mom has lost almost 70 pounds! This at the age of 69. She is amazing! That's a whole blog post of it's own.

The Eeel and its Keepers

Got to walk in the Procession of the Species with my Cousin's daughter Rose! She made this huge purple eel puppet. It took 5 of us to carry it. My Cousin's wife Shoshana and Rose's brother Will were there too. It was an awesome sunny day and a nice break from the same-old-same-old routine.
My friend Rob started a new food blog: 40 Pizza Pies. He turned 40 a couple of weeks ago and to celebrate, he mastered a pizza crust and sauce recipe, bought a crazy assortment of toppings and made 40+ pizzas. Rich and I were some of the lucky ones who got invited to the pizza fiesta. One of his best ideas was to put mustard on some pizzas instead of pizza sauce. He added ham, bacon, potatoes and other stuff to the mustard pizza. By far, my fav. We named all 40+ pizzas and he's posted them all on his blog.

Murphy chillin' at the Pizza Party

You may recall this post about the Cyclocross Nationals and my note about being involved in a crash. That crash ended up causing me slight whiplash which I dealt with through rest, massage and anti-inflammatories. I also noticed a pain in my left hip at the place where the other cyclist hit me. I assumed I was suffering from an internal bruise. Long story short, the hip got worse and sitting or walking became painful. I was told to rest, no running or intense cycling. I could do easy, gentle rides and yoga so I spent the session resting and doing some yoga. I also managed to get in a handful of trainer rides and one or two really easy road rides. Although the pain subsided, it never went away. In early May I was given the green light to start riding more (but nothing intense). I started doing a couple road rides and after 3 rides, my hip pain came back strong. Now I'm told to go to P.T. and to not do any mountain biking or running all summer long. Ouch! Problem is, most everything else they said I could do- walk, road ride (easy)- causes pain. I did just start swimming and that seems to be o.k. I'm working on getting a second opinion and hope that someone can do an MRI or X-Ray or something to see what's wrong. Needless to say, my frustration at giving up my most favorite activity may be a theme to this blog.
Rich and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! My co-workers helped out and I was able to leave work by 7:30. Just enough time to grab dinner with Rich!

There will be more posts most of which I hope are more interesting and thought provoking than this one. I just have nothing left in my brain after Session number 5.

Kids

2011-03-06T01:40:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about kids a lot lately. I think it's mainly because I've realized that my nieces and nephews are growing up so very fast. As you know, I have no time during session to spend with anyone (including my husband). Given this is my 5th session at the Legislature, that means there has been 5 years of 4+ months at a time when I just don't see my nieces and nephews. This is absolutely no good when one of my sister's children are either in or nearing their teen years and time with an "auntie" is not necessarily on the top of their list. The other sister's children are in their pre-school and toddler years, which are very intstrumental in a child's life, and my schedule does not allow for me to connect with them either. Piled on top of those two circumstances is the niece and nephew who now live in Wisconsin and who I love and adore to pieces.  Add up all of these circumstances and the result is one sad, lonely and confused Auntie. Finding time to see everyone and to be involved in their lives is important, but also a daunting task.

This is one BIG example of how I've been thinking about kids a lot recently. The other example is the fact that, yes I am, (gasp) in my early 40's and no, (as if this is news...) Rich and I do not have kids. This has been a very, thoughtful choice on my part. I've never had baby-lust but have loved being around kids. I have never really seen myself as a "parent" and have never been really super excited about having kids. I uncovered some old journals from high school and college where I write about some day having kids. In one entry, in response to a high school lesson on life-style choices, I wrote about the possiblity of being a parent. Having attended a Catholic High School, the life-style choices we were to write about included: marriage, single-life, or nun-hood (not correct term-but you get it). It was in that context that we were to write about our personal calling to one of the life-style choices. My writings reflect a typical high school student who does not want to become a nun and feels married life is better than single life. Married life automatically implied being a parent. Single life implied, being happy, but not being a parent. Committing to the sister-hood meant no marriage and no kids- not for me. I wrote about the goals of getting married, raising kids in the Church and being happy. Who wouldn't want those things?

Reading through some writings from when I was a college student, I can immediately see that things became "less clear" for me than they were in high school. All of a sudden, life became a bit more complicated and layered. I started seriously thinking about MY life goals. What did God want from me? What was my "calling"?   Were there other options than I was presented in high school? I wanted to break away from what I thought were my goals and get to a point where I confidently knew what my goals were. That meant really thinking about what my goals were, independent of what I thought they were. It also meant a lot of prayer.

At that time I really started questioning my interest in and calling to become a Mom. First of all, I didn't feel I was ever going to be the marrying type and second of all, if the good Lord were to bless me with a husband, I really wasn't sure I wanted to be a Mom. I've always wanted to be a positive influence in the life of children but I wasn't convinced that being a Mom was the best way for me to be that influence. At this point in my life, it was all very confusing but at the same time, began to take shape into something solid.

About this time, my sister started having beautiful children- Jacob being the first.   I never knew I could experience the type of love for a child the way I experienced it when Jacob was born! I was living in Boston when he was born in Seattle and I remember seriously walking on air for weeks after he was born. Never once did I think, "I want a baby Jacob!". I remember thinking "I want to be the best Aunt ever to baby Jacob!". Molly was born soon after Jacob and I experienced the same euphoria when she was born (I even got to be in the delivery room!). Next came beautiful, dark-haired Maya who I immediately felt a connection to, followed by slim, little, Macey-Jo who will (despite all her future objections) be the baby! My heart was more full than I thought it could be! Yet, the fun didn't end there! Kohl and Kendall joined the family with all their spirit and energy! And, the youngest and most recent additions, were loving brought to this world by my sister Deanna and her husband Darin. Daisy and Dani bring with them the bittersweet recognition that they could very-well be the last of the young generation for our family.

When I turned 40 last year and 41 this year, I realized that I was at that age when doctor's say "If you want children, your window of opportunity is closing." I heard that, and I admit, I panicked a bit. Was I making the right choice? Did I, Debbie Driver, really not want children? I thought, prayed, reflected, struggled with the question for a good long while.

It's funny though, I guess I had done all the hard reflective work at a younger age. Nothing was really different. I continue to love children and hold a very, very big bias towards Jacob, Molly, Maya, Macey, Kohl, Kendall, Daisy and Dani. Adding to that list is my beautiful 2nd cousin- Grace who is a miracle among us. I want to be the best Aunt to each of them. I want to be someone they can turn to in good times and bad. I want them to know that, like a parent, I have a special unconditional love for them that is deeper than anything I could put words to. I want to be a better person because I want them to know the world is full of people who want to create a world full of opportunities for them. I want them to know that, despite crazy work schedules, family is here for them in thick and thin. I want them to know, regardless of what they choose in life, I love and accept them.

At a certain point, isn't that what every parent wishes for their children? And thus, isn't my choice to not have children, but to focus those very wishes on my family's children worthy?

Boring

2011-02-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

I really miss blogging! Session started in January and I have been working a lot of hours and many weekends. Sitting down at the computer in the evening, or when I have any free time on the weekend , doesn't appeal to me given I'm on the computer all day at work. But, I promise, I would have wrote at least a few postings if our computer had been healthy. A few weeks ago, Rich realized our computer needed some TLC from someone more qualified than us. He took it to a local computer repair vendor and they took a bit longer than we had hoped to get it up and running. For awhile there we thought we'd be stuck with a situation where we had to buy a new laptop but we are very happy to pay what ended up being a small price to get it running again. Phew.

As those of you who follow this regularly- which I think is a total of ZERO now and has had a high point of 5 or 6 viewers in the past- session means I turn into a pretty boring person. My pattern becomes nothing more than sleep-eat-work-eat-work-eat-work-home-sleep. Repeat for 108 days. I have had about 4 days off since January 10 and, on those days my life looks a bit like this: sleep-sleep-sleep-lingering coffee + breakfast- read-sleep-read-cook-clean-laundry-eat-errands-prep for the week ("outfits" picked out, lunches made)-eat-watch TV-drink a glass of wine-sleep. So- I'm seriously pretty darn boring right now.

The things I can talk to you about are things going on in my world- Ferries, Railroad Issues (Amtrak, etc), bills being considered by the House, accounts that fund various transportation projects... I think these topics, though of keen interest to me, don't make for great dinner conversation. Now- keep in mind that I really do love my job! I try to take a walk around the campus a couple times a week and there are many times I want to pinch myself. I recall moving to Olympia in 2005 and one of the first things I did was to walk around the Capital Campus. The campus is gorgeous and I remember thinking I would be honored if I could someday, somehow work there. It seemed a lofty goal at the time but the thought stuck with me and in 2006, sure enough, I entered the House as an employee. I seriously do not know if there's a better place to work. That said, the hours during session are tough and the demands are stressful. I don't handle stress well and every session, I learn more about myself and try to improve my reactions to stress. It's tough at times. The good thing is once session ends, my job returns to a normal 9-5, 5-days a week job. There's still a lot of work to be done but it's done at a much more manageable pace.

One thing I think others can relate to or may find interesting is a new approach to food I have taken this year. I was injured during the national Cyclocross championship race- slight whiplash and a bad hip injury- likely a hip pointer or brusitis. These injuries meant a long, slow healing process with little to no physical activity was/is necessary. I was only recently told I could start gentle cycling and my dreams of training for a half marathon this session have been dashed. Running with a bad and healing hip is not a good idea.

On top of those limitations, I am not a very healthy eater- don't eat enough veggies and eat too many sweets. My co-worker Alison (a new BFF!) and I decided to try something new this session. About 2 weeks before session, we met up on a Sunday night for some beers. We pulled out all our favorite cook books and recipes and charted out a meal plan. Each of us picked one dish to make every week. Each Sunday she and I prepare the dish we selected and bring it to work on Monday. We make enough so that we can both have at least one meal a day during that week. The dishes are healthy, usually highlight vegetables, and, most importantly, are YUMMY! We planned out every week for the entire length of session- January through April. We both supplement the dishes by bringing in fruit, healthy snacks, bread, peanut butter, etc. Both of us have noticed we are eating much better this session and we feel better too. The whole plan is not ingenious but, in a way, it is. In addition to having good, healthy food, we also try to set aside 15 minutes a day to eat together. It has made a huge difference in my energy, attitude and has helped me to stay sane despite my limited fitness opportunities. Black Bean Soup and Avocado/Lime/Cilantro salad this week!

Well- I think that is a pretty big brain dump for now. Harry Potter book 6, my cozy bed and sleep are calling! Up at 6:00 tomorrow to hit yoga before jumping into another week of work!

Oh- I have yet to write up the stories from the Winter Beer Tasting party but here's a good photo of Rich and I. (Dad- notice the necklace!) Cheers!

Fifth Session

2011-01-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

Post Part I: Tomorrow starts my 5th session working here at the Washington State Legislature. I enter each session with a mix of emotions. I really love my job. I love doing what I can to provide factual information to legislators so they can make the policy decisions they feel are the best for the State. As a citizen, I take comfort in knowing that there's a group of non-partisan staff working for the House and Senate and I'm honored to be one of the staffers who work for the House. So, session is the time when I am most challenged at work. I like that. The hard part is the schedule. Every single staff person I work with checks out of their personal life for the enirety of session. Tomorrow I'll send my annual e-mail to my family reminding them that session has begun and that I won't be able to make plans until Sine Die (end of session). Honestly, I don't mind - I signed up for this and it's my job. It really helps that my husband is super supportive and my family is understanding.

This years' session is going to be a difficult session. The state operating budget is in a world of hurt and it will take a lot of long days and nights of work to put together a balanced budget for the next biennium. The transportation budget has it's own challenges too and I'm certain I'll be knee deep in analysis of a variety of options and scenarios. I'm sure you will all be riveted to TVW and the newspaper all session long!

Post Part II: As a state employee, the negative comments and put-downs are getting old. As in any business (private, non-profit or public) the biggest expense is the people- the human capital. Of course it's one of the first places to look at when you have to make cuts or reductions. What one has to remember when they are looking at public sector jobs, is that the public sector employee makes less than a private sector counterpart. (I know this from personal experience having moved from the private sector to the public sector.) I found the end of this recent article on NPR about the new Governor of Florida (Gov. Scott) telling. A link is here but I've noted the two sentences that I found telling:

"Scott has said he'll run government like a business. He is already finding that doing so presents its own challenges. To staff his administration, he has looked mostly to the private sector, but he has had problems filling many of the jobs — in part because of the lower government pay scale.

After first requesting their resignations, Scott has asked hundreds of Crist administration staffers to stay on for a few more months while he searches for replacements."

I would so love to really write a thought provoking piece here about my feelings about being a state employee and my thoughts on the budget and all that, but I won't. Going back to Part I of my post, I love my job, I'm lucky to have a job, I'm just getting tired of people hating on public employees.

Fly

2010-12-28T21:04:00.000-08:00

My Dad and Stepmom are visiting for the holidays and I took off a bit of time one day last week to spend some long-awaited time with them. We decided to head up to the Museum of Flight. I don't remember ever being there and my Dad and Stepmom are always up for an adventure! I am no high paid museum reviewer and I the only things I know about flight are a) planes fly, b) Boeing makes planes and c) Boeing is (well, was) local. Didn't matter- I was totally fascinated the moment I walked in there. The museum is really well done and there are a ton of docent's available for scheduled free tours and many walk around on their breaks adn do impromptu tours. I think their enthusiasm was contagious and they were all so knowledgable about the history of flight. I hadn't realized how far we had come from the Wright brother days (just over 100 years ago). In the 1920's and 1930's advancements in airplanes were astounding. I think Dad and Jackie had a great time and my only regret is that we should have gotten there sooner so we had more time to hang out. I think I'll go back sometime soon.... well, after session.

2010 Cyclocross National Championship Review

2010-12-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to say the typical "wow- is it already Christmas? Where did the time go?" So, ignore that I just wrote and focus on what I'm about to write. While I sit here on the Eve of Christmas, drinking a glass of celebratory Champagne, watching one of the best flicks of 2010, Kick Ass, and enjoying watching my dog and his pal Happy dog playing tug, I thought- "hmmm... why not update the blog?". What a fine idea, I say to myself.

You may remember this post way back in January which told the riveting story of the Cyclocross Nationals Championship race. Bend, Oregon hosted the 2010 Cyclocross National Championships so once again Rich and I packed up the car and headed out of town for 10 days. First stop- Portland, OR to race in the Portland USGP Cross race. I raced but Rich didn't (in fact, he opted not to race at all this go around but instead to take a real vacation and just chill). My race was at 8:30- way too early for me. It was cold and I haven't been feeling very fit or fast so I was a bit down before starting. But, I wanted to race. The course was awesome- one of the best Cross courses ever. I was totally surprised and that made the race much better. I didn't have that great of a start and felt like I was last. I made a couple technical mistakes and seriously thought about quitting about 5 minutes into the race. But, somehow, I kept going. I ended up picking off some gals and thought I finished about 15 out of 17. I didn't even want to check the results- why bother? At about 2 or 3pm I decided to take a peek at the results. I ended up in 10th out of 17- way better than I thought (but with lots of room for improvement). Not a bad way to end the day!

Rich and I were fortunate to stay in his brother's place in Lake Oswego for the first few days of our vacation. We went out to dinner in Portland, I bummed into an old college friend (random meeting at Deschutes Brewery) and headed back to watch the races on Sunday. Our pal Russell had an amazing race on Sunday - one of the highlights of the whole vacation. We ate out Sunday with some pals but pretty much took it easy in Portland on Sunday. Rich's brother was out of town until Monday but Monday we had a great breakfast with him and spent some time chit chatting before heading to Bend.

The wrap-up of Bend is best down by quick bullet points:

Stayed in a house within walking distance to DT. A bunch of our friends shared the house- highlight was the hot tub!
Bend was much, much warmer than last year. We arrived with snow on the ground but temps never seemed to dip below freezing. As the week went on, the weather warmed up which meant alot of mud and partly frozen ground to race on.
I raced on Thursday- didn't do so well. I was crashed out on the first lap, knocked head over handle-bars, dropped my chain and my adrenalin went pfft. I put the chain back on, shook my head a bit and then jumped back on my bike. I was pretty much last at this point. I tried to catch back as many spots as I could but didn't get to finish my last lap (leaders caught me). I was pretty upset about having such a poor performance in my last race of the season. After a bit of a break by myself, a hot shower and a hot buttered rum- I was better!
I went skate skiing with my friend Lisa and I was a disaster! I loved it but couldn't get more than an hour or so out of my legs. It is tough!
Lisa, myself and some gals from the Group Health race team went skate skiing a couple of days later- I did much better on day 2. I still have a lot to learn but I think I'd like skate skiing if I had time to perfect the sport.
Rich and I went to multiple post-race fiesta's with our friends and spent a lot of time watching some AWESOME cross races. Highlights included watching our teammates and friends race, watching our pal Courtenay place 3rd in the Divsion 2 Collegiate Nationals Women race (representing WWU), watching two local racers duke it out for 1st and 2nd in the Division 2 Collegiate Nationals Mens race (also representing WWU), watching WWU take 1st in the Division 2 team competition, watching our friend Russell lay everything on the line to take 2nd by just a few feet in the very competitve Masters 35-39 age group and generally surrounding ourselves with all things Cyclocross for at least 5 days.
My birthday was spent watching many of the races I outlined highlighted by watching the pro men and women races. The crowd was AMAZING and the racing was fast. Those athletes are impressive!
I spent 2 nights out tearing up the dance floor, ate amazing food, drank amazing beer and felt lucky to be surrounded by friends that I consider family.
We headed back to reality on December 13 and since then have enjoyed some Olympia local adventures. Once home, I realized I totally messed up my neck on the crash. After going to the doctor and after over a week of constant pain, was diagnosed with slight whip lash. Am on the mend now but it'll take some time.

Next year the race moves to Wisconsin. I would seriously consider going but they also moved the race from December to January. Session may just get in the way of making the trip to Wisconsin.

Russell takes 1st in Portland!

Nikole and Rich

Skate Skiing Day 1

Molly and I right before our race- she did awesome out there!

Head down, trying to finish the race

Skate skiing day 2

Rich, Me and Joe celebrating

Spectators

Final day of racing- sun was out! Beers in the beer garden (also my birthday!).

It'll Be Easy to Get Rid of the Federal Deficit!

2010-11-16T20:56:00.000-08:00

A co-worker sent this to me.

Illustrated to me, how hard it will be to get reduce and/or eliminate the federal deficit.

There's always trade-offs. What would you do to get rid of the federal deficit? Try this website out and you'll quickly realize there are few, if any, obvious strategies.

Keep that in mind as the Legislature tries to solve the state's budget problem. Regardless of what we all think or believe about how we got here, we are here and difficult decisions will need to be made.

An Eventful Sunday

2010-11-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

Waking up at 5:30AM on a Sunday morning on purpose is not my idea of fun. But, today, there was a good reason to roll out of bed and head out the door by 6:10AM. I was one of a few hundred people invited to attend the inaugural sailing of Washington State's newest Ferry boat - the Chetzemoka. The day started with an almost 2 hour drive to Port Townsend and a ride on the existing ferry boat from Port Townsend to Coupeville on Whidbey Island. Once on Whidbey Island we were entertained by a military band as the Chetzemoka arrived and docked. Dignitaries, including the Governor, Legislators (including the Chairs of the House and Senate Transportation Committee), Congressman Inslee, and DOT officials boarded first and the bottle of champagne (or was it sparking cider?) was broke open on the upper deck of the vessel.

Next, we all entered the car deck and listened to a variety of speeches. After a short while, we were allowed upstairs to tour the vessel. Todd Shipyards and other sponsors provided snacks and entertainment was provided by a group called the Shifty Sailors- pretty funny and talented singers with a very maritime theme. If my Dad were there, he would have grabbed my Stepmom, me or any other willing young lady and started dancing! Speaking of Dad, this trip was special for me because I knew my Dad & Uncle both worked at Todd Shipyards in the past. It was one of those times in life when things seem to pass gneration to gneration- although I don't work at Todd, I have been working on Ferries at the State Legislature. Todd built the Chetzemoka and is building 2 other ferries- which means, I interact indirectly with Todd. If I could, I would have brought my Dad as a guest because I think he'd have appreciated so much of today.

My co-workers and I walked around, took some photos and ended up getting a sneek peek at some of the Ferries features. Upon reaching the dock in Port Townsend, we attend a Tribal ceremony where descendants of Chief Chetzemoka blessed the vessel and sang some powerful and moving native songs. Although I missed a Cyclocross race, the event was one-of-a-kind, very well done and very worth the time and travel.

My co-worker and I on the shore of Whidbey Island with the new ferry docking behind us:

Getting ready to board:

Staff and HTC Chair:

Christening the vessel:

Yes, I'm Still Racing

2010-11-09T23:21:00.000-08:00

Racing has been a bit like a multi-month long roller coaster ride for me. The cyclocross season started off pretty miserably with me getting last and second to last in my first two races. Granted, I didn't get a warm-up in at either race and I was totally spazy out there, but those are not excuses. I just did terrible! While warming up for my 3rd race of the season, I realized I felt extremely nervous. My stomach hurt and I wanted to throw up. On top of that, my back was hurting which made running up a big hill with my bike on my shoulder and powering through a challenging course less than appealing. I told Rich that I wasn't sure I could finish the race (nor was I motivated to race given my poor performance the first two races.) In true Rich style, he gave me great advice. He told me to do my best to finish the race. Having 3 bad races would be an awful way to start the season and he noted that coming back from 3 bad races would be really tough.

Needless to say, my 3rd race was much better. I worked hard and ended up in 5th place in a pretty competitive group. Yahoo! The next race, was ok- I got 8th in a muddy, muddy, cold, wet, rainy race. The following race was my best performance of the season. I got 3rd but only after 2 pretty bad crashes, losing about 6 places during the race and making them all up in the last lap to secure 3rd. That race was exciting and fun and I was mentally focused during the whole race. Since then, I've slipped and, although I've had a blast racing, my mental focus has been totally lacking. I know I have more speed, power and skill than I'm using during my race but I'm struggling to tap into all that. The two races I did really well in, everything clicked. I just want them to click again. Sadly, there's only about 4 or 5 more races until Nationals in Bend. We'll see how it goes.

Some photos:

A muddy race at Maris Farms (this is me getting ready to lift my bike onto my shoulder. Then I ran through mud - knee high mud at times. Oh the fun of Cross!

And thanks to Laurie Porter-O'Brien for the following photos. She's the mom of an up and comer racer from Olympia and is kind enough to take photos of so many of us out there at every race!

And of course... RICH!

And our BIGGEST FAN- Murphy!

My Relationship with Olympia

2010-11-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

We moved to Olympia in 2005. I was excited to get to know the town, meet people and make this my home. But, despite the good qualities of Olympia, after 4+ years it didn't feel like home. I spent a lot of time reminiscing about my West Seattle home. West Seattle was filled with great neighborhoods, family, familiarity, new friends and old friends. Saying I love West Seattle is an understatement. I'd moved away a few times- to Boston, Washington D.C. and with Rich to Denver. Deep in my heart, I knew I was a NW girl and that I'd return. I always assumed I'd end up in West Seattle. Oh man, the tears I cried when I realized Rich and I couldn't afford a home in West Seattle. I didn't want to believe it but, we were looking when the housing bubble was a pretty big and expensive bubble. Nonetheless, we had options and had our eye on Olympia. We had friends there and the access to awesome mountain biking and road biking held a lot of potential for biking adventures. So, we found a house (a great house) in Olympia and made the move.

I met lots of good people and started many friendships here in Olympia, but up to last year, I couldn't say I really liked (let alone loved) Olympia. I just didn't fully connect to the town. About a year ago, I made a decision to get to know Oly better. Since then, I've met a lot of fellow cyclists, joined a road racing team, sought out local events to attend (notably, the once a month beer tasting events at Gravity Beer) and opted to spend more weekends in town. Slowly but surely, Olympia is growing on me. Maybe it's the evening sailing trips out of Boston Harbor or the weekly mountain bike rides in the summer. Possibly, it's the Fish Tale Brewing Co and the old Oly Brewery whistle that blows every weekday at 5pm or the twice yearly Arts Walk in DT. The Farmer's market is cool (but honestly, I don't go there that much) and there's some decent restaurants. Who knows what it is, but I am becoming more and more edeared to Olympia.

In 2011, I hope to get to know this place even better and hope that some day, I can love Olympia the same way I do West Seattle.

Revive the Blog!

2010-10-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

All my many fans have been asking "When are you going to revive your blog?" "Why are you so silent these days?". Well, my last post ( I believe it was in June or July), was dedicated to the great Dani Gemmer so not sure I can top that post. It's been a few months of looking at my blog feeling a bit overwhelmed by the time that's past and feeling like I had nothing interesting to say or add. Now that it is almost November, I've decided that I miss the blog. Even if it's just for me, I miss it! So, I'm back.

My friend Alison and I were sitting at work during session last year when we started talking about books and reading. We both love to read but were interested in actually talking about books that we found thought provoking. We came up with the brillant and unique idea to form a Book Club. For those who don't know what a book club is, you haven't been watching enough Oprah the past 10+ years, been to the library or maybe you don't like books. We gathered a group of gal-pals, met in April and set the ground rules for the book club as a group. Everyone gets to host, the hostess picks the book but it cannot be a book that the hostess has previously read, the hostess picks how to do the food (pot-luck, make a big meal, only have desert, etc). and in December, we will forego a book and have a holiday fiesta with significant others and friends instead. Oh, and we are on official hiatus during session since most of us work for the Gov or Legislature.

So far, our book club has been amazing! I have been consistently reading at least one book a month, some of which I would never have picked to read. Our group is getting to know each other better through both talking about the themes of the books and just hanging out together fairly regularly. The book club has become something I totally look forward too! Here's a list of the books we've read so far (check out the diversity in books!):

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (I picked this one b/c I'd never read any Jane Austen)
The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder and Survival in the Amazon by Robert Whitaker
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Steig Larsson (I had previously read this book and the whole series- very good but also disturbing)
Oxygen by Carol Kassella
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
Three Among the Wolves by Helen Thayer
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

The last two are the November and December picks- I have yet to read them. If you are curious about what I thought of any of these specific books, drop a comment and I'll post a brief review.

In addition, I've read some other great books the past few months. My favorite was the recent read of Molokai by Alan Brennert. Amazon's overview is pretty good: Brennert's sweeping debut novel tracks the grim struggle of a Hawaiian woman who contracts leprosy as a child in Honolulu during the 1890s and is deported to the island of Moloka'i, where she grows to adulthood at the quarantined settlement of Kalaupapa." Despite all the sadness of the story, the beauty of Molokai and the human spirit stand out in this book.

I have to admit my ignorance on this part of history. I had heard of leprosy and leper colonies but I hadn't known how recent in history these were occuring. I also had no idea about the impact the disease (known has Hansen's disease) had on Hawaii and the native population. If I ever make it to Hawaii, a visit to the National Park at Kalaupapa in Molokai is definately on the list.

All Things Dani!

2010-07-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

For about 2 days Rich and I welcomed our 11-month old niece, Dani, to our home! My sister and bro-in-law needed a sitter for a couple days and I took a couple days off work to watch Dani. Dani's big sister headed to my sister Michelle's house to be watched by her (well, really Maya and Macey took care of Daisy but that's a different story). Dani's stay here went pretty much like this:

Sunday evening: Arrived at our place at about 5:00pm. Crying commenced from the moment she was taken out of the car. Crying continued interspersed with blood curdling screams, deep heavy sighs and a few moments of quiet wide-eyed wonderment. I think she was totally taken off guard, not sure where she was or who I was. Her mom and dad offered advice on the phone (including feed her and put her to bed after the evening bed-time rituals- she probably didn't have a nap). So dinner, play time (which worked a bit), bath, diaper change, teeth brushed (thanks to Uncle Rich), stories, songs, prayer and bed-time. She cried for a little bit, talked and sang to herself for about an hour then crashed. I have to give Rich some serious credit. She totally stopped crying every time he held her. As you can guess, she was in his arms a bit Sunday evening.

Monday: Wake up at 5AM (early to bed early to rise!) and all the normal morning baby things. She didn't cry except to tell me it was time to eat or get the diaper changed. We played and played and at one point she turned her back to me, grabbed a toy, and then was silent. I moved around to see what was happening and she had fallen totally asleep. Too adorable! After a nap, we headed to Capital Lake Park for a picnic with some of my co-workers. She LOVED being outside on the grass and got plenty of attention from my friends. A short walk and drive home and another nap. After the 3rd waking up of the day, snack time and a good hour walk out around a trail with Murphy dog. Home, play, dinner, play, bed-time ritual and a sleepy, quiet and perfect Dani went to bed on night number two.

Tuesday: This was the Murphy loves Dani day. Dani woke up and had breakfast and by now Murphy figured out being near her meant snacks! Some of her food ended up on the floor and he was very helpful in cleaning it all up for me. By now Dani was obviously much more comfortable in our house. Instead of just playing in the living room, she decided it was time to explore. She crawled (quickly mind you) all over the upstairs. Murphy diligently followed her around and was often found trying to get her to throw a toy for him. Poor dog didn't get she hasn't quite developed a fetching arm. After a nap and some more snacks, we headed out to run some errands and drive to Michelle's place. At Michelle's I witnessed a very cute and heart warming reunion with her sister - which was one of the highlights of my day. Lunch, play, diaper change (there were a lot of those over the 2 days) and a long nap and then her Daddy came to get her.

It was really a fun, special time to share with Baby Dani. She'll probably never remember it but I always will. Funny thing is on Wednesday I heard a baby crying at the neighbors house. I just about jumped out of bed and ran to the extra bedroom to grab Dani. I had to remind myself that she was no longer at our house. Love ya Dani girl!

Some photos of our time together:

Father's Day and I'm Sick

2010-06-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today is Father's Day and I can barely etch out a word or two. My throat is so sore and I'm miserable. Sorry to my Dad for not calling today but I've been thinking about you all day. If this is gone tomorrow, I'll call.

I've been meaning to update this but haven't had time. Here are some snapshots of what I've been up to:

I won a bike and supported a Breast Cancer fundraiser at the same time!

Spent some time in Chelan with my cousin Kathleen and Pam and Grace (it was cloudy and barely 65 while we were there).

On one of the warm Saturday evenings, a bunch of us gathered at Amy and Rob's for a BBQ and clams.

Got a hike in at Mt. Townshend (although we couldn't finish the hike due to snow):

Another 24-Hour Race

2010-05-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

This year I raced in my fourth 24-hour race as part of a 5-person all female team. I left Thursday to head over the Pass and went straight to Susan Blanco's house for a long delayed visit. It's been a few months since I saw Kendall and Kohl and I wanted to spend some time before the race just being with them and their mom. Sadly, they had found out their beautiful dog Tonka was very sick and had to be put down on Friday morning. It was tough to see them go through losing a loved pet and it brought back memories of losing Chugger. Kohl and Kendall seemed to handle the loss as best as possible. They were super curious about the Eurovan and were exicted to climb into the back (I had the bed down). Here's a photo of them in the back of the van right before we took it for a spin around their neighborhood loop.

Spokane's Riverside Park was the site of the race and after almost a full day of visiting with Kendall, Kohl and Susan in Spokane, I headed over to the park to set up camp. Cloudy, grey skies threatened rain Friday and throughout the weekend but, other than a few short down-pours, the weather was perfect for racing. The course was fast this year given recent rains kept the dust down and the trails were in great shape. Once again I was a part of the Fox Force Five team which included Lisa, Annie B (debuting at her first mountain bike race ever), Nikole and Suzie (a new mtb friend). Race order was Lisa, me, Nik, Annie and Suzie and there were 3 other teams we were competing against. Lisa had to run at the start of the first lap and was one of the first women to her bike (there she is grabbing her bike off the rack).

She finished her first lap putting us in 3rd place. I took off and the fourth place team member caught me about 1/2 way through the lap. I was disappointed but knew it would be a long 24 hours before the race was won. Team Zuster was in first from the get go and remained solidly up there but the other 3 teams battled it out through the day and night. The race was very tight for 2, 3 and 4 and each of our team members rode solidly. I guess the steady solid riding we did paid off because we secured 2nd place. It was a tough race and the other two teams pushed us hard but we pulled through! Check out Russell in the background of the photo below!

My personal goal was to race a lap (almost 15 miles) in 1 hour and 10 minutes - which is 5 minutes faster than my fastest lap in 2009. I dug deep on my first lap and finished in exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes! Yippee!! Since I had at least 3 laps to go, I set a goal to do better than each of my 2009 lap times. My second lap in 2009 was 1:21, in 2010 it was 1:15. My 3rd lap time in 2009 was 1:39 (I had a flat) and in 2010 (no flat) was 1:17 (keep in mind that was a night lap and I typically go much slower at night). My fourth and final lap in 2009 was 1:27 and this year, 1:15! I met my goals!

A shout out to Lisa who dug deep to race a 5th lap and the final lap for our team. Her last lap was critical in securing our 2nd place finish. We ended up completing 19 laps this year as a team versus 17 in years past! Way to go Fox Force Five! Here are a few shots from the race:

Loved the decorations on the back of this Dad's number:

Wish I had seen this rider out on the trail (esp. on some of the hills):

My friend Deb- in her 50's, racing solo, completed 10 laps in 24 hours. Impressive!

Medal and wine prize:

Now I'm home drinking a beer and thinking about what's next....

Lame

2010-05-20T12:14:00.001-07:00

Bicycle racers crash after tacks are thrown onto course

My Oh My-nium!

2010-05-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

The weekend of May 15-16 I ventured completely out of my comfort zone, packed up my trusty Redline Cyclocross bike, dropped Murphy off at a nearby kennel and headed out to Wenatchee to participate in the 2010 Wenatchee Omnium Stage Road Race. This would be my first Omnium which consisted of 3 races in 2 days: a 9.0 mile time trial on Saturday morning, a 20 minute criterium on Saturday afternoon and a 37 mile road race on Sunday morning. Although I had not trained specifically for any of these events, I have been training generally for racing. I went into the weekend with absolutely no expectations of how I would do. I didn't even know if I'd have fun. In fact, I wasn't sure if I'd do the criterium (race #2). I've always been nervous about trying a "crit" and I heard stories about how hard this crit was & how folks have been injured during the race. Anyway, more about the crit later. Rich and I stayed with some of my Oly Orthopaedic Associates road racing teammates and let me tell you, hanging out with these folks made the whole weekend truly amazing! Ok- here's an overview of the weekend:

Sat AM Time Trial: What's a Time Trial (TT) you ask? A TT is a race against the clock. Racers start every thirty seconds, ride the same race course and the person with the fastest time wins. In order to be the fastest, you have to both pace yourself and push yourself to the limit. Mastering the art of doing this takes time. Or at least that is what I'm telling myself! There are ways to improve your time including the obvious improvements to your fitness level and body positioning (the more aero-dynamic the better- cut through that wind baby!). You can also get a special TT bike, aero bars, specific TT wheels and/or a unique TT helmet. Since I'm new to all things road racing, I opted not to spend any money on bikes, wheels, helmets unless I became serious about road racing. So, me and my Redline Cross bike sans aero bars and my regular mountain bike helmet showed up at my scheduled 7:51:30 start. Getting to this point meant waking up at 5:00 AM, eating, driving out to the TT start, warming up on the trainer (a work-out in itself at 7 AM) and rolling up to the start by 7:50 AM. They told me to go and I pedaled my arse off for 4.5 miles and actually ran out of gearing given the strong tailwind. Upon turning at the 1/2 way point I started to struggle. I pedaled and pedaled and pedaled but seemed to be moving at a slugs pace. I finished in second to last place. Keep in mind, I had resigned myself to a DFL so I was ecstatic about the 2nd to last place.

Me and my OOA Teammates after the TT:

Sat afternoon Crit: I decided to do the criterium (crit) and was told it was a lot like a Cross race. We gals lined up at the start of the 1-mile crit in DT Wenatchee and I faintly heard a sound like "go" or a whistle or maybe both- I can't remember. Like Cross, we all took off- FAST- I mean really FAST. My heart was pumping and my legs were screaming! The course included a 2- block flat stretch, a 2-block downhill with a right turn to another 2-block flat stretch and another right turn to a 2-block uphill stretch. I stayed with the group until about 1/3 up the uphill. I lost them and almost lost the contents of my stomach simultaneously. Mind you this is probably less than 1 minute into a 20-minute race. I tried as hard as I could to catch the group but was out of my element and they took off. Impressive (them, not me). On the second time up the hill I seriously considered pulling out. I hurt all over. I heard and saw my pal Liz on the side lines cheering for me and I heard some other Oly folks also yelling for me and I thought- "I cannot quit. I need to finish this thing. I will finish this thing." I so wanted to quit but I didn't. It was both humiliating and humbling to race that entire 20 minutes solo. Everyone watching knew I was the slowest out there. Anyway, no pity party here- I just finished out the race, went to the car & drank a gallon of water (did I mention it was almost 90 degrees during my race?). I couldn't eat for hours, could barely talk and I think my face remained tomato red for the rest of the night! I ended the night watching my pal Russell win the Cat 1/2 mens Crit. He rocked that course and won what looked to be a really tough race.

Me in the Crit (SOLO!): (thanks to my friend Liz for the photo!)

Sunday AM Road Race: I didn't sleep much Saturday night as I think it's normal that after doing so poorly in 2 events, one replays everything over and over in their head. At least I do. Nevertheless, 6:30 AM signaled my alarm clock and I was up eating and getting ready for another glorious day of "racing". The road race course was a 34 mile course with 2 5-mile climbs in the middle (total elevation gain of over 3500 feet). Everyone told me the group would get strung out pretty quickly on the climb so I was prepared to ride hard and alone most of the race. We started well with all the OOA gals driving the pace for a little bit. The group of riders stayed together until the first turn and even up the first climb. I was right there with them, enjoying the ride/race and trying not to blow up on any of the beginnning climbs. We hit a bit of flat straight away and I went to shift my bike and I over-shifted the front gear and the chain went ride over the wrong side of the big gear and dropped. I stopped to fix it and watched everyone pull away from me. After getting it back on I had a decision to make: do I work my bum off to try to catch someone and then try to stay with them on the first of 10-miles of climbing or do I just ride as hard as I can and pace myself so I make it through the whole race. For better or worse, I chose the latter and proceeded to "race" the remaining 30+ miles by myself. The course was gorgeous, the hills tough (particularly the 15% grade sections) and the other racers that passed me (guys) were supportive of me and my slowness as I rode the course. I finished the race in 2 hours and 32 minutes and Rich was there cheering for me at the finish line. (Mushy side-note alert- I love that guy!) Needless to say, I got DFL on the RR part but I left with a big ol' "Been There Done That!" attitude. My teammates rocked the entire weekend and inspired me to keep going (even when they weren't physically near me). Knowing that they were feeling the same pain I felt, not quitting and riding faster than I can imagine riding kept me going.

My thoughts to date on Road Racing:

It's harder than I thought.
The women I race with train long and hard for this and are amazingly fast.
It's more fun than I thought.
I want to be faster and push myself more and try new things.... well, Road Racing provides opportunities for that.
I don't want to be the person who quits b/c I am bad at something. That's giving up- especially when you are enjoying yourself.
I would love to finish a Road Race with a group of folks versus solo and would like to hang on in a Crit for at least 1/2 the laps. I think it will take some time to meet those goals. Baby steps.
It's more mental than physical- like most things, I am surprised at how far I can push myself. I also am quilty of slowing myself done and/or not pushing myself more. Gaining mental strength is something I need to do and I believe that being mentally stronger will translate off the bike to the other facets of my life.

Beezley Burn and Dirty Dozen Race Reports

2010-05-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

In late April Rich and I headed to Ephrata to race the Beezley Burn. They call it the Beezley Burn because you climb up, up, up this big hill and then snake your way down the other side. My group did 2 laps of this course. A couple of the great things about Ephrata in April include the fact that it's usually pretty warm but not hot. It's possible to race in shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. It's also the home town of my Uncle Guy and Aunt Joan. We arrived Saturday late afternoon and despite the really crazy wind, they joined us at Oasis Park for some chit chatting and catching up. They were troopers to leave a cozy home and brave the elements for us! It was a bit bittersweet being there because my Dad and stepmom used to live there and I tend to expect to seem them coming around the corner any time I visit Ephrata. The race organizer runs a great local race with lots of community volunteers, lots of prizes for raffles and they even host a BBQ on Saturday evening for racers that make the trip to Ephrata. Pretty snazzy.

I started the race noticing about 8 women lining up, 3 of which were in my age group. My teammie Nikole was there and a new local racer (and the 5th member of our 24-hour mtn bike team) Suzie joined us too. We started a bit slow as it was a long gravel road to the first down hill and then the start of single track and mostly climbing. Nik took off like a shotgun on the climbs! She has obviously been training and reaped the reward by handling the climbs like a pro. I fell back a bit but managed to pass three gals in front of me with just Nikole up ahead. Then I slipped out on an off camber corner with a cliff to the right. One gal got by me but I picked it back up. Towards the end of the first lap Suzie caught me, then I dropped her, then she caught me, then I dropped her, then she caught me. We past the start/finish at the same time and both decided to slow down at the long gravel part to eat and drink. Then, the second lap started with her in front, and me trying to catch her. I think I ate too late because I made a lot of technical mistakes. I felt great fitness wise (which means I'm doing well with my training). But lack of food = less fuel to the brain = mistakes on the bike. I crossed the finish line not long after Suzie, 3rd in my group and 4th overall (which I was happy with). Jake (the race organizer) had these awesome medals made. It was well worth the trip to Ephrata!

Yesterday Rich and I raced the Dirty Dozen which takes place in Port Gamble. Last time I raced this race (about 3 or 4 years ago), I got lost on the course and had to take a big DNF. I was bound and determined not to get lost this time! About 15 women lined up for this race (2 of whom were suppossed to race beginner but decided to race the longer sport course- they rock!). I arrived like 20 minutes before my start so was a little scattered. But, I decided to just relax and do my best. This race also started with a long gravel road but it was pretty much all up hill for a couple miles until you hit the single track. Then, the single track just kept going and going and going! It was awesome! The trail was wet, soft, slippery, and very, very technical. Courses like this tend to drain you quicker than you think because it's so challenging. I made it through the first long section of single track in what I thought was 3rd place but was actually 4th place. Then my teammate and a much stronger rider than me, Elizabeth came up from behind. She got around me and I couldn't hang with her. Note that she was on a single speed and I was on a geared bike. She's an amazingly strong rider so this didn't really surprise me at all.

After the tight, turny single track there were short fire road sections with some good climbing. Then, we ended up at the top which had a lot of fast dry single track. There was one really steep sandy down hill with a sharp turn at the bottom which I managed to ride well (but not fast!). I found I had the energy for any of the non-technical parts of the course because I was pretty slow in the technical parts given it was so turny and twisty and technical. The course ends with about a mile and a half of fire road, this time mostly downhill and flat. When I got to the last quarter of the fire road, I saw Elizabeth up ahead. I decided that since it was a race and since I had gears, I would use them. I rode as hard as I could and passed her right before the finish line. I ended up getting 1st in my age group, 4th overall and had a blast! Someone razzed me for passing a single speeder at the end (and a teammate) and I did feel bad about it for about 2 seconds. Then, I realized a) it's a race b) we race against our teammates- we want them to do well but we individually want to do well too and c) that's the advantage of having gears- you can use them when you need them! No photos from this race as it wasn't photo op friendly.

So- Recap:

1st race of the season: Last in my age group (5 riders)
2nd race of the season: 3rd in my age group (3 riders) and 4th overall (7 or 8 riders)
3rd race of the season: 1st in my age group (4 riders) and 4th overall (15ish riders)

First Road Race

2010-05-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

I did it! Well, I sorta did it. I raced my first road race last Saturday. Talk about nervous. Lucky for me, a teammate carpooled with us which meant I had someone to chat with about race details and tips. Brandee has been racing a couple of years and she's a strong, wise racer. Having someone to bounce things off of was awesome! The race started fine. I lined up with my teammates (that's me on the far left listening to another teammate give us advice), got razzed a bit from my old team Team Group Health, and started off on the race. The first few yards were a neutral roll-out. This means no one races but we just pedal as a group. Then, once the horn blows, we can start racing. I was right where I was told to be, up in the group but not at the front. I was looking for strong riders and solid wheels to hold on to and was surprised by how much I was having riding fast in the group. Then, a surge occurred! Someone decided to pick up the pace. I was told this would happen a lot during the race and that I should do my best to stay with the group. I was fine until we hit the first hill. Then, I couldn't dump the gears down to the small ring in the front which meant I struggled up the hill. Everyone in front of me took off and everyone behind me, flew by me. I don't know if I was strong enough to actually hang with the group but I was bummed I didn't get a chance to try.

Luckily, at the top I noticed two other straglers up ahead of me. I rode hard to grab the Starbucks racer's wheel. I made it up to her and then rested a bit while she pulled me. I then pulled in front of her and offered her my wheel. We pretty much caught up with the next rider and we all turned right and confronted another hill. This time, my gearing not only didn't work but my chain fell off my bike! The adrenalin was pumping and my hands were shaking. I could barely hold on to the chain, let alone put it back on properly. Finally, I got the chain back on but had to resign myself to the fact that I couldn't catch the group. This was about mile 4.5 of a 6 mile course and a 30 mile race. I had so wanted to stay with the group for at least one lap!

I got back on my bike and then headed to the next intersection. I was told to make a left hand turn but that was wrong, I should have gone right. I double-backed and thought to myself "I should quit. I'm going to ride by the start finish line, see a bunch of people I know and I have some pretty good reasons to quit." But, I didn't. I decided to ride as hard as I could until I finished the race. I ended up doing one less lap because I got caught by the group on the last lap (darn short course) but I rode as hard as I could for every mile I was out there.

With all that bad luck, you'd think I had a miserable time. Well, I didn't. I had a blast! My next race is a mountain bike race (much more in my comfort zone) followed by a Tuesday night training race and then 3 days in Wenatchee attending an Omnium. I'm registered to do a time trial (no clue how to race a time trial!), a criterium (may not actually race the Crit as I'm not feeling all that prepared) and a big road race. I have no doubt I'll get dropped but I really want to stay with teh group for as long as possible!

Trying something new

2010-04-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Remember this post? Well, I decided to really focus on racing this year. By focus, I mean I am trying some new things with my training in hopes that it pays off this Cyclocross season. I've decided to try out some road racing and tomorrow is my first race. I am nervous and am procrastinating doing my pre-race ride. I seem to think the longer I stay in my PJ's the less likely tomorrow will dawn. I really am excited but so nervous too! Because of special session I am behind on my training and getting started with these new races. I had meant to start last March in Sequim but that didn't happen b/c I had to work. Now, here I am. I just want to finish and feel strong tomorrow. Is that too much to ask?

Here's a profile of the course- we'll do 5 laps of the 6-mile route. <a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/wa/glenwood/918127223077110365">Michelob Ultra Gran Prix</a><br/><a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/wa/glenwood">Find more Bike Rides in Glenwood, Washington</a>

Deanna and Darin- yes this is in Port Orchard and no I didn't tell you guys b/c I have NO idea what to expect and my race starts at 9:05 AM.

The other cool news is that in order to meet some folks down here in Olympia and to have some awesome gals to ride with, I joined the local team (for road races only- still on Ragnarok for mtn and cross). My new team is Olympia Orthopaedic Associates and the kits are awesome- RED for FAST! I'm hoping to have some photos sometime soon of my new friends and our adventures.

Beer Notes

2010-03-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

I enjoy a good tasty beer especially after a tough race or work-out or on a hot summer day. I'm no beer expert but I did take some little notes about the beers I tasted while at the 2009 Oregon Brewer's Fest in Portland, OR. For some of the beers, I assigned the type of race or bike ride that I would most enjoy each specific beer after completing. I thought I'd throw my notes somewhere where I can remember them- hence this post. It's also nice to have these easy to access so that I can look for them at my local beer store.

Oh, and I can't wait to go back to this festival and hope to compare the 2010 notes with these 2009 notes.

21st Amendment Brewery: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat Beer: Surprisingly refreshing and good! I was not interested in trying a watermelon beer but am glad I did! This would be great after a hot, sweltering hot mountain bike race like Roslyn or Leavenworth or after a long summer ride in Capitol Forest. I also wrote "good for after riding in Bend, OR"- oh yeah! This brewery also makes Monks Blood Belgian Dark Ale- a VERY good beer!

Alameda Brewing Company: El Toreo: This was an IPA and I'm not a big IPA fan. I find most IPA's to be too hoppy (which I think is part of the point of an IPA). Anyway, this one was not too hoppy despite a highish IPU of 88. I didn't note a good race or ride that I would drink this after but I think that's b/c I don't tend to lean towards IPA as my refreshing beverage of choice.

Amnesia Brewing: GoldyHops: Awesome name! Once again, I didn't expect to like this but I really loved it!

Anderson Valley Berwing Company: Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema: I really liked this beer- it was a bit thicker than most beers and had a really good flavor. The taste was smooth, malty and just a little sweet. I think this would have been good after an early season warm race- like Whidbey Island Mudder on a good day.

Bayern Brewing: Dragon Breath Dark Heff: All I have written here is "VERY GOOD". I love dark heffewiezens or dunkleweizens (think Leavenworth's Blind Pig) and this one was tasty. I noticed it received the silver medal at teh North American Brewers Association 2008 Beer Awards. I guess I'm not the only one who deemed this "very good".

Boulevard Brewing Company: Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale: Another good summer beer. Nice and solid taste which would be great after a Wednesday World Championship mountain bike race put on by good ol' Wick. The notes say it's a blend of Belgian yeast and citrusy Amarillo hops on a grain bed of pale malt, malted and unmalted wheat and corn flakes. Cool- beer with corn flakes in it. Does that make this beer an official OK breakfast food?

Bridgeport Ales: Stumptown Tart: Rob, my pal, told me this was good beer but when I saw it had sour cherries in the ingredient list, I had a bit of doubt. But as my notes say, this was FLIPPIN' GOOD! I like to keep my beer ratings G rated but the taste of this beer almost made me break that rule. I hope to find this beer somewhere this summer!

Chuckanut Brewery and Kitchen: Chuckanut Dortmunder Lager: All I wrote was "tasty". So, this one was tasty and it's from Bellingham. I'll be up there sometime soon and may have more specific things to say about this beer.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery: Festina Peche: This was made with peaches and is fermented with an ale yeast. I have notes that this was tart but refreshing. Makes me crave summer.

Great Northern Brewing Company: Wheatfish Wheat Lager: "Very cool and yummy" followed by a big smiley face! That's what I wrote! This is a Whitefish Montana brewery and is another award-winner. I think wheat beers taste awesome in the summer so I'm not surprised I liked this one.

Widmer Bros Brewing Company: KGB: My specific notes say "SAWEET! This is Cyclocross Beer" I underlined "Cyclocross Beer" two times! I must find this by September!

Three Creeks Brewing Company: Stonefly Rye: Another good one which I thought would taste great after Whidbey Island mountain bike race. It's from Sisters Oregon, it has to be good!

Terminal Gravity Brewing Company: Festivale: I seemed to think this beer was awesome, strong, and that I must buy this. Really, that's what my notes say. I told myself to buy this beer. It was one of two beers that my notes included direct instructions. I must listen to myself or else!

Riverpoint Brewing Company: Old Man River Oatmeal Stout: Ok, I attended the Brewers fest in July of 2009 and it is now March 2010 but I honestly remember this beer. It was knock-your-socks off amazing! The line was growing for this beer and I was glad we had arrived early . I made a note that this beer was awesome and that I should buy it. We ended up meeting the guys from the Brewery and had a great chat with them. The brewery is in Clarkston WA and they were very proud of this beer. They should be. Now, where can I find it out here in Olymipa?

Oregon Trail Brewery: Oregon Trail Wit: Yet another Wheat beer I loved. I guess I started feeling saucy because my notes say "Fun F#^@$!^tastic". Guess I liked it A LOT.

Other Beers that recieved a "Very Yummy" or "Surprisingly Good" or "Good" rating from me:

Marin Brewing Company: Blueberry Ale
Moylan's Brewing Company: Pomegranate Wheat: I actually wrote "surprisingly yummy". Guess I wasn't sure how the pomegranate would work in the beer. It worked yummily.
Ninkasi Brewing Company: Radiant Summer Ale: Good light summer beer
Rogue Ales: Latona Pale Ale
Stone Brewing Company: Stone Cali-Beligique IPA: I wrote this was good despite that fact that it was pretty hoppy. I noted this would be great after an early Cyclocross season race.
Vertigo Brewing Company: Razz Wheat: Surprise! I liked another wheat!

Beautiful Molly

2010-03-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

My niece Molly is growing up fast. She is beautiful. She looks like a rock star in this photo- complete w/ her bass guitar and all.

9 Years`

2010-03-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2010 was Rich and my 9th anniversary. I love him and I love being married. What else can I say without turning this blog into a sappy, sappy love story? I don't want to lose the few followers I have so I'll just say 9 years doesn't feel that long when laughter and bike rides take priority!

Us in 2010

I have no idea what year this is but I think it was 1999 or 2000.

In Winthrop- our "Happy Place" 1999

A couple of photos from our wedding day

Books and Music and Videos

2010-03-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Books:

I just finished reading the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This is a memoir and is so well written that I had a hard time putting it down every night. It is a story of strength, determination and hope in a world that is rife with poverty and devoid of role models. The Walls children are raised by a father who is constantly chasing either the next invention that will make him rich or the pot of gold he'll find in the desert. Although a skilled worker, he spends his money on booze and ends up getting fired from almost every job he finds. The mother is more concerned and interested in becoming a artist than providing for her family. Instead of working as a teacher, she often complains about needing more time to foster her art career and thus, her four kids should not expect her to go to work. They are often without food, shelter and clothing. The children end up figuring out how to escape this poverty, how to lean on one another and how to continue to love their parents despite the lack of parenting they provide. As all children are, they are innocent and find the suffering to be more of an adventure at first. Their parents approach life as one big exciting adventure- be it living out of the car, sleeping in cardboard beds, or going hungry for days. The book details how the kids all went along with it for quite some time but once old enough, started to figure things out on their own and started setting themselves up for a better life. After reading this book I felt so blessed to have the things I have but more importantly, to have had the parents I have. Thank You for being there for me and for sacrificing for your kids Mom, Dad and Jackie! It is appreciated!!!

On to Music!!! I downloaded some new albums and am super excited about the new music. Check these out at your local Amazon.com mp3 store or your local record shop:

I bought the Gorillaz album and the Spoon album w/o hearing one song from either album. BUT I'm a big fan of both bands and am super psyched to add these to my collection. I did listen to about 4 tracks from the Gorillaz and I love the mix of orchestra, rap, and good 'ol Gorillaz style. I think it'll rise to one of my favs soon.

If you haven't heard Help I'm Alive- you are missing out!!! Can't wait to hear the rest of the album!

And, I have to give props to Lady Antebellum- I've only heard a few of their songs but I am enjoying a little C&W (Country Western) now and again. I guess having heard it every weekend at my Dad's means it's grown on me!

And finally, video. For our anniversary Rich got me an awesome new toy. It's on its way and I hope to become better at my video-ography this coming race season! THANKS RICH!

Special Session- What does it mean?

2010-03-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

It's my first real Special Session. Yippee. If you sense a lack of enthusiasm, you are reading this well. The Legislature was not able to finish their work in the 60 day session. Because of that, the Governor called for a Special Session. I can't blame them for not finishing in the short 60 days we've had here in Olympia. I wish they would have, but they didn't. Considering this is the worst recession the state has seen since the 1930's and considering they used to have Special Sessions quite often (even as recent as 2001 & 2003 which had 2 "Extraordinary Sessions") it isn't surprising we are having a Special Session.

A few things about a Special Session: Only the Governor can call for a Special Session and it can not last more than 30 days. But, multiple Special Sessions can be called (one after another). The Governor can request a shorter session (as she did in this case) and can request the focus to be only on whatever important bills (i.e. the budget) they must get done in order to end session. These are just requests and the Legislature is not obligated to adhere to them. This year, the Governor requested the session last 7 days and focus on the operating and capital budgets as well as a K-12 initiative. Yet, the fact is, once a Special Session is called, any bill that was alive during the session and "died" can return to the process. This means that the Legislature may bring up bills that they (either the House or Senate) feels are important to be considered.

What this means for me is that I'm resigned to stay close to Olympia and have to work while they are in Session. The weekly calendar we got today showed session occurring all this week and all next weekend. So, I won't be able to follow through on some big plans I had. I had intended to race my first road bike race on Saturday but that won't be happening. I also planned on doing my first mountain bike race of the season on Sunday. I won't be doing that either. The hardest part though is that I planned on visiting my Dad and Stepmom at Arches National Park at the end of the month. If the Special Session ends in 7 days, I may still be able to go. If it doesn't, I'm hoping to somehow rearrange my April schedule to make it out there. Thing is, I made other plans in mid and late April which would need to be re-scheduled or cancelled. Oh well, it'll all work out. Right?

Oh, and for all you WA State Leg trivia buffs, technically, there was a special session called in 2008 (I believe) and it was a one-day session.

Gran Torino

2010-03-06T22:28:00.001-08:00

Found some time tonight to watch a movie and decided to watch Gran Torino. Excellent movie. I highly recommend it. Go watch it!

New Post!

2010-02-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

Yup, here it is a new post! Some random thoughts because my life seems a bit out of control right now. It's session so I expected it but nonetheless, my life choices these days consist of 1) what to wear tomorrow, 2) what to have at work for lunch and dinner and 3) what is of the utmost prioriy on my to do list. The last item includes things such as if I don't do this we will either get a call from a collector or someone will be hurt or damaged by my lack of action. Fun huh? Well, here are some random thoughts from the past few weeks:

Biofuel- Who would have thought that I'd start learning about fuel and biodiesel by taking on the WS Ferries assignment at work? Given that ferries run on fuel and that fuel represents a large portion of the state's fuel budget, I guess that makes sense. I'm having a great time learning about this and can't wait for interim so I can really wrap my head around all things fuel!
Olympics- I've never felt so out of shape as I do right now watching these amazing athletes on TV. It's not just the fitness thing but I don't really know if I've ever worked so hard for something the way these athletes have. I think the closest is Grad School. Not that I don't work hard at work but I'm thinking of things that are more personal goals when I watch the Olympics.
Disappointments- I was asked to work with my old company as a sub-consultant for a local project. I have to say no even though I so want to say yes. The reason? The project is funded by WSDOT and is likely funded through one of their programs that is in my portfolio. Can we say "conflict of interest"? It's been a long time since I've been disappointed in this way as the project sounds like a lot of fun and I completely respect and adore the people with whom I would work with. Nonetheless, I love my job and don't want any ehtical conflicts.
Racing- I've decided to try some road races and have started training for them. Actually I started training in Jan. The first race is March 20 (1 week after Sine Die). The thing is, my training the past week has sucked! Session is winding down- 3 weeks to go. That means everything is thrown in the last three weeks- our budget comes out soon, the I-960 bills are being heard in the House, revenue bills (if there are any) come next, the budget needs to be agreed upon with House and Senate and the House is now starting to recieve Senate bills (public hearings, bill analysis, fiscal analysis, executive session). Plus, now is when a lot of other things start piling up as we all work to complete the many tasks needed to Sine Die on time. As such, my training is taking a back seat. This means I mentally have to prepare for being seriously dropped at my first few races. Tough pill to swallow but a lesson in humility. I'll take it.
Family- I so WANT to and NEED to see my nieces and nephew! I want to snuggle Dani (taking care not to hurt her arm), play tea party with Daisy, play Rock Star with Molly, Maya, Jacob and Macey, go see the kids at some of their games, hang with Jacob and chat about music and other things young kids talk about. Oh well.... soon enough.
Family Part Deux- Oh, did I mention the need to take my sisters out for Margaritas and Chips/Tacos/Snacks at Matador?
Family Part Tres- Oh, did I mention the excitement I'm feeling about calling my Dad and StepMom and seeing if I can visit them at Arches National Park the last week of March/first week of April?
Family Part 4- Oh, did I mention the anxiety I'm feeling to see my Mom and just hang with a cup of tea, some Frank Sinatra, and a free night to just sit and chat?

Ok- so there are my random thoughts! Now, for some random photos:

Guess who is in this photo? Hint- I am no where near this photo.

My high school graduation present. Imagine how excited I would be if someone, anyone gifted me with an Apple iPad?

Chabrise and I hit this show in our much younger days. You know, the days when a friend calls you at 4:30 at work and asks if you want to go to a concert. You say, sure! Next thing you know, you are the only one not wearing black (you are wearing your professional work clothes) at a Cure concert. I didn't even have black make-up on. Still... Good Times!

One of my favorite photos from Rich and my wedding. There have been some changes to our family but this represents a very, very happy day for us!

Saturday

2010-01-30T09:15:00.000-08:00

This is the 3rd Saturday of Session and up until now, I've been lucky enough to road ride the first two Saturdays and mountain bike on the first two Sundays. I head to work after each ride but feel AWESOME after meeting my training goals. But today, I have too much work to ride. I knew it would happen, and it has. I am a bit surprised at how sad I am not to ride. It's been fun to challenge myself with long rides (something I'm not used to doing) and the people I am meeting are awesome! Makes for a fun Saturday event.

Today though, responsibility takes over and I am heading to work. I'll get a fun run in this afternoon but will miss the ride. Please note: I in no way feel sorry for myself as a) I really like my job and b) I will be rewarded with interim soon enough.

A Shout Out to Bob's Red Mill!

2010-01-24T18:56:00.000-08:00

At the end of Cross season I was surprised by a gift of a very genorous cloth bag full of Bob's Red Mill products. No, I am not being paid by Bob or his Red Mill folks but I am really happy with the products so thought I'd share my Bob's Red Mill experiences with you all.

I've had Bob's Steel Cut Oats before and they are yummy! Like all Steel Cut Oats they take awhile to cook but are so worth it and are so good for you. The company was one of our Seattle Cyclocross sponsors and could be found at most races serving Steel Cut Oats with dates, raisins, milk, brown sugar and other toppings. My bag of goodies included a bag of the Steel Cut Oats as well as about 6 or 7 other types of grains and mixes.

We first tried out the 10-grain pancake mix. The mix calls for more than just water which I at first thought was a bit much (Krusteaz has spoiled me). The small effort of mixing an egg and some other things resulted in a hearty, delicous and healthy pancake! Plus, I can understand all the ingerdients listed on the back (posted below)

Ingredients: whole wheat flour, buttermilk powder (milk), baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), whole grain corn flour, rye flour, triticale flour, oat flour, rolled oats, soy flour, millet flour, barley flour, brown rice flour, sea salt, flaxseed meal, baking soda

Next up was the Oat Bran Cereal. On the side of the bag is an awesome looking muffin recipe. I gave it a try last week and the result was a dozen delicious, hearty, healthy muffins. They are made with whole wheat, oat bran cereal, banana, carrot, dates, only 1/2 cup of brown sugar and other typical baking ingredients. I went a little crazy and added an apple to the recipe. They are SO GOOD! I've made these muffins this Sunday and last Sunday and plan on having these on hand as much as possible.

Last Sunday I also decided to try out the veggie soup mix. I'm not a big veggie soup fan but I had the mix so thought I should try it. It has lots of dried beans, some small alphabet pasta shapes and no seasoning. I added carrots, celery and onions and lots of pepper and some salt. The result is awesome soup! I've had soup for one dinner and three lunches this week, still have some at work for tomorrow and froze a couple more servings. And, I still have at least half the soup mix left! I just saw on their website they sell a bean soup seasoning mix. May have to try it sometime. Either way, this is an awesome, affordable and healthy soup.

Next up: figure out how to incoporate the golden flaxseed meal into my diet, crack open the muesli for breakfast and make some more of the delicous steel cut oats.

So, although these products might look pricey at the store I, for one, am really happy with the quality and quantity you get for the money. I am already starting to look at other products I want to try: chocolate cake mix, spice n' nice cereal, crunchy coconut granola, coconut flour and the Irish soda bread mix. Oh, one other thing. They have a lot of gluten free items.

Thanks for indulging me with this little rave about Bob's Red Mill!

My Fourth Session

2010-01-19T21:37:00.000-08:00

Last week marked the start of my fourth session working at the Legislature. I sometimes have to pinch myself because, despite the long hours that come with session, I really love my job. I work with a group of amazing people who put everything aside for 3-4 months (sometimes more) to make sure Legislators have the information, data and analysis they need so they can make policy and budget decisions. I may not always agree with the policy they pursue or even with the way they interpret the data, but I am proud of the work the staff does to provide non-biased, fact-based information. I truly believe it plays an important role in developing laws and policies for our state.

My fourth session marks some change for me as I moved from the operating budget to the transportation budget. I miss the camraderie I had with my Ways and Means/Appropriations co-workers, particularly those in the education area, but I am working with a fantastic group of people in transportation. My assignment includes ferries, rail, freight and a lot of local programs funded through the Department of Transportation. I also have the Department of Licensing in my portfolio. Being new to the subject area but not being new to the legislative process or working with members is proving to be an interesting combination. I'm not confident yet in the subject matter but am able to work efficiently and organize my tasks much better than I did during my first session.

This is a short session with a scheduled end on March 11. Keep your fingers crossed that the hard work and difficult decisions can be done in time for an on-time Sine Die.

If you want to know more about the Legislative process, go here.

4th Annual Winter Beer Tasting Festival

2010-01-13T21:21:00.000-08:00

Rich and I hosted our 4th annual winter beer tasting festival last weekend and it turned out to be another awesome party! I know, I know... I'm biased since it's held at our house with our friends and is full of delicous beer. It's hard for me not to have an awesome time given all that. Nevertheless, unless people are lying to me, other people say good things about this party. This year friends traveled from Belfair, Bellingham, Bellevue and Seattle. We had beers from all over the country and some international showings too. As usual, we did the blind tasting and a few folks (Gary and Tim) tasted most if not all 34 diffent types of beer.

I was actually able to taste about 5 or so different beers this year but sadly, did not taste some of the stuff we brought back from Oregon. Rich and I grabbed some unique and new beers while we were in Bend this year. Next year when we head to Bend, we'll be buying more as the supply dwindled fast.

In case you are curious- here's the final results:

1. Powder Hound Winter Ale Big Sky Brewing Company- Yummy!

2. Goose Island Christmas Ale - one of the beers we picked up in Bend and this almost tied Powder Hound for first place.

3. Boundary Bay Cabin Fever - a Bellingham brew that got AWESOME reviews from all that tried it. It was put on the table a little later in the evening. I think it would have done better had it been available all night.

4. Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale - this has made a showing in the top 5 in previous years.

5. Affligem Noel Ale - This was a new beer to most of us and I didn't get to try it....bummer.

We never assign people beers to bring so the tasting always seems to be missing a few standards. I noticed a lack of New Belgium's Two Below, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale and Anchor Steam's Christmas Ale. I'm sure others were missing too.

There was some discussion about"which year was the power outage?" and "which year did we have all the snow?" Here's the rundown of the past and a review of the first place beers:

Year 1: Power Outage No voting on beers so no 1st place.
Year 2: Smooth Sailing New Belgium Two Below took the prize!
Year 3: Snow Storm Rogue Chocolate Stout beat them all.
Year 4: The December Event Takes Place in January (uh, you are already here so no link necessary!) Powder Hound Winter Ale by Big Sky Brewing Company

One final beer note- I found this great site that provides a lot of info about various beers including food pairings. Awesome idea!

Rich hanging with some cool Old Town co-workers and friends:

Joy, Me and Amy

Mike, Ross, Tom and Sean

Girl talk!

The Beers unveiled at the end of the night.

Act Your Age

2010-01-10T21:06:00.000-08:00

I got home the other day and there was an odd large envelope in my mail box that said "'Act Your Age" and "Welcome to the one magazine for women over 40 who love to act their age." I'm wasn't sure what this meant (and not sure how they knew I just turned 40) so I opened it up. Inside was an offer for a free year subscription to a new magazine. One of the pitches in the letter was "We talk honestly about hormone treatments, hot flashes and alluring ways to ehance natural beauty". It also goes on to say that "You are more seasoned and more confident." I thought I was completely ok with recently turning 40 and this surprise invitation to the magazine reinforced that I am ok with the whole thing. I think it's pretty humorous to consider myself seasoned and confident and a bit scary to think that "hot flashes" is lurking in my near future, but it's all good. Although I won't be subscribing to the magazine, I did think it was cool that all their models are 40 and over. Still not sure what it means to act my age though.

2009 Cyclocross Nationals Update

2010-01-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

As promised, I'm finally writing about our recent vacation. This is a very, very long post so grab a mugga joe or hot coco and settle in.

We started in Portland and raced the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross at the Portland Raceway. We both raced on Saturday and it was COLD! I actually raced the worst race of my past two years. I think my legs were cold the whole race which means, I felt like I was riding hard but I wasn't going anywhere. Rich flatted on his race and was super far from the pits. The pits are where you put your extra "B" bike. In Cyclocross, you can't get help from spectators and if you flat or get a mechanical, you have to run or ride to the pits to get it fixed. Also, in the big Cross races (like Portland) if you get passed by the leaders, you get pulled. Rich was so far from the pits that the leaders passed him as he made is way there. Oh well. (Photo below is the only one of the two of us. Sadly, it's after he flatted and was walking off the course.) We both had fun but decided to just spectate on Sunday. Saturday night we went out to a PDX n'hood and ran into at least 100 Santa Claus's. The city was having a Santa Pub Crawl and everywhere you looked, there were Santa's. It was pretty amazing. Here's some photos from the pub crawl and the Portland race:

After Portland we headed to Bend Oregon for the USA Cyclocross Nationals race. When we heard that the National Championship races for our favorite sport were going to be held 6 hours away, we immediately made plans to go. We both registered to race in the Championship race for our age groups, found a bunch of friends to rent a house together (which was VERY inexpensive) and took a week off of work. I expected the week to be fun, but the event and vacation exceeded my expectations. Here's a run-down by day:

Monday- Drove from Portland to Bend and arrived at the house we were sharing with friends. Lisa, Jadine and I took a trip to the grocery store to pick up groceries and noted it was 2 below at 7pm! We were in for a cold night and a cold Tuesday. We had a big group dinner, hung out, stayed warm and dry and just relaxed.

Tuesday- Around 9 or 10 am, a few of us braved the cold (it was single digits) and drove to an amazing bakery for coffee and treats. We then headed out to where the race would take place to scope out the venue. They had finished building a big staircase and were putting up the tape and course stakes. Parts of the course bordered the Deschutes Brewery (brewers of some really good beer) and other parts bordered the shops at the Old Mill District (REI, Anthony's Restaurant, etc.).

After returning to the house, I braved the cold and went for a fantastic run up this big hill. I was rewarded with views of the three Sister's and Mt. Bachelor. That evening we walked to a local pub, enjoyed some beers and then (against my protests) we walked over a mile and a half to DT Bend to eat dinner at the Bend Brewing Company. Here's the conversation:

Mike and/or Jadine and/or Tom: Let's go to Bend Brewing Company for dinner.

Me: Ok, we can walk back and grab some cars and head down there. After all, it is 0 degrees outside.

Mike, Jadine and Tom: What!?! Why wouldn't we walk? It's only a mile and a half which is not that far.

Me: Have you ever walked in 0 degree weather? It sucks and I'm talking from experience.

Rich: No comment

Mike, Jadine and Tom: Oh, come on. Don't be a wimp.

Me: Ok, but just this once.

We proceeded to "walk" downtown. Because I was right, the walk became a run. Imagine me with 4 guys and one super athlete woman trying to keep up with their speed and stride on snow and ice. We arrived safe and sound and I do admit, it was fun and is a great memory. Luckily, we bumped into a friend from B'ham who drove Jadine and I back to the house. The boys headed back on their own and froze.

Wednesday: Lazy morning and then Rich and I pre-rode the course, picked up our race numbers, and just hung out in Bend. That night was a mix of emotions as we welcomed more friends to the house, had a big burrito bar for dinner, played 80's trivia and witnessed our good friend go through a painful, agonizing mystery illness. I took her to the emergency room around 1:30 AM and thank goodness we got her there. The next day we learned she was scheduled for surgery to have her Gall Bladder removed. She did not have a good week in Bend as she spent Wed- Sat in the hospital. I visited her twice but it was a pretty awful experience for her.

Thursday: Marked the first day of racing. The event typically holds a day of "non-championship" races designed to give as many people an opportunity to participate. I was going to register to participate for this fun race on Wednesday but found there was a $25 late fee and a $40 race fee. It wasn't worth the $65 to freeze my bum off and race at 8:30 AM. But, some of my friends raced at 8:30 AM so we got up, bundled up and went to watch them race. It was 7 degrees or something crazy like that! The first photo below shows start line and the next, a friend who was clearly trying to stay warm during the race. The rest of the day was somewhat lazy and I rode the trainer for a bit, visited Lisa in the hospital and tried to stay warm.

Friday: Race day and my last day in my 30's! My race was at 1:00pm which meant it was suppossed to warm up and hit the mid-20's. Luckily for me, the course was opne for warm-up rides from 12-1 so I did some laps on the course. It was cloudy and half of the course was icy (which meant I rode slow) and the other half not so bad (which I rode much faster). I was fortunate to line up at the start with two friends in the same row. I could not believe the number of fans out on the course! I was not nervous in the least but super jazzed to get out there and race my last race of the year and my last race in my 30's. We started and there was a crash right at the beginning. Somehow I manuevered my way through it and took off. I stayed on my bike throughout the first half despite crashes right, left and in front of me. Then someone crashed to my left, I went to ride around her on the right, she tried to remount and moved right in front of me, she crashed again, I almost ran over her, had to get off and then her bike was tangled in mine. I lost a lot of time trying to untangle myself. This happened right before the stairs so as soon as I freed myself, I shouldered my bike and beat her up the stairs. There were so many people out there cheering, and so many times I heard my name or my team name! My adrenaline was pumping the whole time! I finished the last few laps much stronger than my first few partly b/c the sun came out and melted some of the ice on the icy part and partly b/c I was just ecstatic and wanted to ride faster! During the race, I noticed I was passed by many women who were in the older age groups. Women in the 45-50 and 50-55 age groups were passing me. I've never felt so excited to turn 40. Next year, I want to pass the young girls in in 5 years, I want to keep the trend going. I know it's a bit egotistical but it is what it is. After my race, I was so happy and proud of my year of racing but I was also worried about Lisa. She was still in the hospital and was doing better but not ready to be released.

That night a few of us went out to eat and dropped in on one of the many free events for racers. We danced all night (ok- until like 10:30pm) and had a great night!

Photo above: credit goes to Joe Martin.

Photo above is me finishing my first National Cross Race! I placed 29th in my group of 50ish women and 12th or so of those in my category (we race with women in faster categories).

Photo above: we won pink t-shirts while out at an event!

Photo above: I thought I was happy and having a good time and then I saw this photo of my friend Carol!

Saturday: Rich raced on Saturday so we arrived early at the race site. It was a lot warmer for his 9:30 race and the crowds at least doubled from Friday. Despite the warmer temps, the course was still icy. He started almost in the back of a group of over 100 racers. Within the first lap, he had made up a bunch of spots and was riding really, really strong. His second lap looked even better. Suddenly, on one of his last laps, a guy behind him slipped on the ice, flew forward and knocked him off his bike from behind. He hit the ground hard, laid there a moment, got up, fixed his bike and watched as the race leaders passed him by. When the leaders pass you, you are pulled from the race. He finished looking really strong and by no fault of his own. We both felt really good about our efforts in the last race. We spent the rest of the day watching other friends race and enjoying the festivities of cross.

Saturday also marked my 40th birthday. We had a big team dinner homemade by our friend Jeff, a ton of delicious cupcakes and a big party at the Deschutes Brewery warehouse. We danced for hours! I had so much fun! Some of favorite things all wrapped up in a weekend: biking, friends, and dancing!

Photo above: thanks to Joe Martin!

Photo above: Saturday after we were both done with another season of Cross racing!

Two photos above: Party at Deschutes Brewery Warehouse on my 40th birthday!

Sunday: Sunday was the final day of racing and was the day the Pros took to the course. The crowds more than doubled again and the energy was high! Our team all purchased blue coveralls which feature patches with our nick-names on them. A bunch of us were walking around in them all day and we recieved many comments about them (all positive). The day ended with our team hanging out in the beer garden cheering for WWU's bike race team that placed 4th in their division, cheering for the pro racer podiums and just hanging till the end. Rich and i packed up and hit the road on Monday. Although we were excited to be reunited with Murphy, we both felt that the week was one of those special weeks that we'll never forget!

Photo above: Rich's eye's are closed but I still like this photo.

Photo above: The members of our team that attended Cross Nationals. We had a blast and Lisa was able to join us all day Sunday!

Photo above: One view of the crowds at one part of the course.

Photo above: Three Sisters - view as we were leaving Bend.

Christmas Recap

2009-12-26T14:47:00.000-08:00

Still behind on the posts but I have to share some photos of our AWESOME Christmas! Rich and I had Amy and Rob over for Christmas Eve dinner. I invited them but with the caveat that neither of us had to do any shopping. They were to just bring whatever they had in their fridge and we'd grab stuff out of ours and see what we came up with. Well, they brought a full meal over and treated us to a new fun way to eat using a "Raclette". We put swiss cheese on these paddles that were placed on the first level of a two level grill. The top level was a grill that we placed potatoes, bread and peppers on. The cheese got all bubbly and then we topped the browned bread or potatoes with the cheese. The whole thing was served with salami, pickles and other food. You place the Raclette in the middle of the table and sit around, eat, talk, cook and drink. I loved it! It was a great small party appliance that I may some day invest in.

We also opened two bottles of wine that were in our "Special Wine Category". We don't invest in wine that much (other than a $20 bottle every so often). In 2008 I went to Walla Walla for Spring Release (revisit that post here) while there I bought a bottle of K Vinterns "The Boy". It looks like this wine is no longer available and I've been waiting for a special occasion to bring it out and enjoy with friends. Can't get much better than Christmas Eve, good friends and a Raclette! The other bottle was a highly reccomended 2004 NorthStar wine that was delicious. Needless to say, we kicked the holidays off in style.

Christmas Day dawned to a quiet house but Rich and I knew the quiet wouldn't last very long. We were expecting at least 16 people and we had a few things to get done in the AM. First, make coffee, second, make breakfast, third open presents and fourth- cook and clean. I whipped up a couple shepards pies, cut up veggies and put out lots of snacks. Rich's parents and Gram arrived first, followed by the Gemmers, my mom and the Picinich's. We ate a TON of food (and I have a ton left over), opened lots of presents, played a new game (I think it was called BananaGram) and just enjoyed being together. Some highlights for me:

Quiet time with Barb, Bill and Gram before the others arrived. It was great to catch up, enjoy coffee and tea, open our gifts to one another and just relax a bit.
Seeing the genourisity of all- Despite this being a tough economy, we all found simple things for one another and everyone was truly happy to recieve their gifts. In fact, we opened presents after dinner which meant the kids had to wait quite awhile before delving into the presents. No one complained, bugged the adults or seemed to notice. We all just enjoyed being together.
Watching Jacob hold his littlest niece Dani and play with Daisy. Some 14 year olds wouldn't go near little kids - but not Jacob. Oh, and he's getting so tall and grown-up. He is one handsome teenager.
Seeing Daisy attach herself to Maya and Macey. She followed them around, laughed hysterically when they played with her and seemed happy if they were nearby.
Bringing people together- my Mom and Rich's Gram are two crazy ladies who love spending time together. They rarely see each other except when we have family over. It's great to see them together.
Getting an awesome t-shirt from my sister (photo here at the bottom of her blog post).
Recieving a very beautiful gift from my Dad. In 1975 his Dad, my Grandpa, collected rocks from a beach. My Dad has a collection of these rocks and has polished them up, applied an intricate silver wiring system and made them into jewlery. Each of the sisters recieved one with the story. Thanks Dad and Grandpa Driver! For photos of this amazing jewlery visit my Dad and Stepmom's blog.

The only thing I would change would be to have my Aunts, Uncles, Dad, Stepmom and Cousins on my mom and dad's side all with us. Now, that would be something to celebrate! Photos below

Yeah, Yeah, I know

2009-12-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I updated this blog. I'm working on updating my team blog, making a 2009 team mini-movie, making Christmas presents for a few special people, getting ready for possibly 20 people to come to our house for Christmas (and we don't have a tree yet or any decorations up), and have started a blog entry on the awesome vacation Rich and I had about a week and a half ago. Oh- I've been having a lot of fun too- Rockettes with Mom, Laura, Michelle and dinner with Michelle, Deanna and Mom. So, to tied my many avid readers over, here's some more photos and a quick story or two:

First photo- morning of my 6th birthday- 34 years ago! Second photo- Michelle, me and Wanda Wells (or is it Dorothy Wells?) enjoying a rare Seattle snow day in West Seattle. Notice the Rainier beer knit hat? What I wouldn't give to have one of those these days! Oh, and notice I'm holding up a stuffed bear wrapped in a blanket? Clearly, I was worried about that bear getting cold! I was much nicer back then. That bear has been hanging in the laundry room all alone for quite some time (yes, I still have him!). One more- notice Tinkerbell the cat in the window looking out at us?

By the Way...

2009-11-25T22:25:00.000-08:00

I would be a dancer if I could chose between being a great singer or dancer.

My mom was trained in Irish Dancing.

My dad is just an awesome dancer.

It's in my bones.

Once, a friend who noticed me dancing at a wedding told Rich "You are the whitest white guy married to the blackest white woman."

The Finish Line

2009-11-25T22:23:00.000-08:00

This blog may be repititive of past blogs. It may be a rambling blog. It may be a random blog but right now, I'm in a reflective sort of mood. I'm watching the Biggest Loser "Where Are They Now" show and, as often happens when I watch the regular episodes of this show, I am reflecting on many things and also dreaming of many things.

I'm not sure where to start which is why this might be a rambling blog. Something big and scary is happening this year. I turn 40. Honestly, I cannot believe I am just a few weeks away from this milestone birthday. I think of other milestone birthdays (20, 30, even 16) and the feeling is just different for this one. I'm confused, annoyed, shocked and yet, hopeful and enthusiastic about turning 40. I don't know what it is about 40 that literally scares me but I have a suspicion. I can't remember the exact details but I do remember when I was a teenager, I read or heard about someone in their 40's suddenly dying. I distinctly recall thinking, "Well, they had a nice long life." Now that I'm here, I truly feel like life has just begun. There's so much left to do, so much to experience and so much to learn. There's a certain maturity that I feel I've achieved and (those who are reading this will agree) a certain youthfulness to me that I don't want to loose. Yet, I am flippin' turning 40 and it's very difficult. So there, that's my issue.

Now, for the "Finish Line" part of this post. While watching the Biggest Loser, there are a few episodes that truly touched my heart. One was when the contestants had to run a half marathon. None of them thought they could complete a half marathon and all of them did. Although I've never been obese like these contestants, I have struggled with my weight. I was always the bigger sister, the non-athletic friend, the person who was clueless about fitness, the one who had to have someone teach her how to breath when running (I thought I was dying). On top of all this, let alone I had no idea how to push myself. It's really easy to set low-level goals for ourselves. Goals like- I will work out one time this week. Or I will work out as hard as I can this week. Yet, when the work-out actually happens, if I'm tired, I just go easy. Technically, I still met that goal but deep down inside, I know I took it easy!

Nevertheless since my mid-twenties I've ran at least 3 half marathons, done 2 sprint triathalons, raced mountain bike races, raced cyclocross races (one of the hardest bike races around), hiked a 14,000 foot mountain in Colorado, hiked the Grand Canyon, ran a marathon, rode 107 miles in one day (on a bike, not a motorcycle), and hiked and biked numerous trails and roads. These are not that big of a deal. I'm a normal person. I'm just like those on that darn show that say the Biggest Loser just lets normal people accomplish amazing things. I relate to all those contestants finishing the half marathon and seeing their tears of joy, shock, awe and amazement that they actually finished something they thought they never could. I'm a firm believer that anyone can do "athletic stuff". I honestly feel so proud of myself after almost every cross race and I experience a sort of high upon finishing. But more often than not, I truly wish more women were out there pushing themselves because I think they'd be surprised by 1) their abilites and 2) the impact it has on their entire life.

So, for the conclusion of this long and rambling post- all this has me wondering- "What can I do to surprise myself when I'm 40?" "What sort of goal can I set that will remind me that age ain't nothin' but a number?" Is it an Ironman Triathalon (2.4 mile swim, 110 mile bike, 26.2 mile run)? Is it a half iron-man triathalon? Is it the Ride Around Mount Rainier in One Day (RAMROD) ride? Maybe a 100 mile mountain bike ride? Is it save a bunch of money and go on an international volunteer trip? Is it another half marathon or maybe to race my best in the Cross series next year or possibly earn enough points to upgrade to the next level (which is very difficult)? I'm not sure what my goal is. Ideally, I'll pick a goal that passes the "straight-face test". By that I mean, there are a lot of goals I could set like "run a half marathon" that wouldn't necessarily push me. I want to be more specific in the goal and pick something that I don't think I, as a 40-year old woman, could do.

There's so much to think about and reflect upon. I do know that whatever my goal is, you can bet there will be a few tears at the finish line.

Dance or Sing

2009-11-18T21:51:00.003-08:00

If you could choose between being a great singer or a great dancer, which would it be?

Also, have you noticed I'm blogging more? Must be the fact that it is windy, rainy and yucky a lot.

Dance or Sing

2009-11-18T21:51:00.001-08:00

If you could choose between being a great singer or a great dancer, which would it be?

Also, have you noticed I'm blogging more? Must be the fact that it is windy, rainy and yucky a lot.

Keeping It Real

5th Annual Winter Beer Tasting Festival

"New" place in Oly

Good Read

Reflections on October

Mt. Ellinor: Someday I will Conquer You!

Choices!

Lil road trip

Getting Rid of More Stuff

Oregon Brewer's Fest 2011 Beer Review

Making a Difference

Quinoa Salad A La Thursday Night

Exploration

Definitions

sim·ple

ac·cept·ance

sim·plic·i·ty

Book Time Continued

Book Time

Making memories

Best friends

A Big Task

My Day....

Muddy

Rainy Days and Sundays

Fighting for Equality: Hermione Granger Style

Boom

Clearing Clutter

Pictures Do Not Do This Place Justice

More Potter

1970's Stereo Goodness

Test post

A New Book

Hip Hip Hooray!

Kids

Boring

Fifth Session

Fly

2010 Cyclocross National Championship Review

It'll Be Easy to Get Rid of the Federal Deficit!

An Eventful Sunday

Yes, I'm Still Racing

My Relationship with Olympia

Revive the Blog!

All Things Dani!

Father's Day and I'm Sick

Another 24-Hour Race

Lame

My Oh My-nium!

Beezley Burn and Dirty Dozen Race Reports

First Road Race

Trying something new

Beer Notes

Beautiful Molly

9 Years`

Books and Music and Videos

Special Session- What does it mean?

Gran Torino

New Post!

Saturday

A Shout Out to Bob's Red Mill!

My Fourth Session

4th Annual Winter Beer Tasting Festival

Act Your Age

2009 Cyclocross Nationals Update

Christmas Recap

Yeah, Yeah, I know

By the Way...

The Finish Line

Dance or Sing

Dance or Sing